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Brits favouring hot sauces says Tesco

New statistics released by UK supermarket chain Tesco are said to show that the British are fast becoming a nation of ‘hot’ heads as far as table sauces go: where once a bottle of ketchup, brown sauce or a jar of mustard would suffice, more Britons are now spicing meals up with hot sauces. In […]

New statistics released by UK supermarket chain Tesco are said to show that the British are fast becoming a nation of ‘hot’ heads as far as table sauces go: where once a bottle of ketchup, brown sauce or a jar of mustard would suffice, more Britons are now spicing meals up with hot sauces.

In the last five years, Tesco says it has more than doubled its range of hot chilli sauces from around 20 in 2010, to more than 50 now.

Some of the most popular include:

• East End Very Hot Green Chilli Sauce – 100% growth in last year
• Cholula – up 80%
• Encona Creole Pepper Sauce – up 70% in last year
• Encona African Peri Peri Sauce – up 50%
• Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil – up 30%
• Aunt May’s Bajan Pepper Sauce – up 25%

“Not only have we more than doubled our range of hot sauces in the last five years, we have also brought in hotter varieties to meet the big demand,” said Tesco world foods buying manager Matt Clark. “Now there is something for everyone – from mild sweet chilli dipping sauces for hot sauce novices to mid-range Peri Peri sauces which were even popular with the England football team at the 2010 World Cup.”

“Interest has also been created by popular TV programmes such as Man v.Food which have featured chilli challenges making these sauces popular with young adults in particular.”

Britain’s love affair with hot food began in the 1960s with the great curry house boom, according to Tesco: in those days, a regular curry would be hot enough for most Brits but by the 80s a Madras or Vindaloo became the norm for many people.

By the 90s Thai and Mexican food featuring whole cooked hot chilli peppers took British taste buds to new levels, the supermarket chain said.

But it’s the last 10 years that has seen an explosion of chilli pepper culture with extremely hot Scotch Bonnets and even the notorious Trinidad Scorpion hitting British high streets.

This year Tesco says it plans to extend its range of extra hot chilli sauces even further.