Sweden: Ketchup and Tomato Sauces Market and the Impact of COVID-19 on It in the Medium Term

Sweden: Ketchup and Tomato Sauces Market and the Impact of COVID-19 on It in the Medium Term

The ketchup and tomato sauces market in Sweden was equal to 65.00 million USD (calculated in retail prices) in 2015. Until 2025, the ketchup and tomato sauces market in Sweden is forecast to reach 84.85 million USD (in retail prices), thus increasing at a CAGR of 2.23% per annum for the period 2020-2024. This is a decrease, compared to the growth of about 3.30% per year, registered in 2015-2019.

The average consumption per capita in value terms reached 6.71 USD per capita (in retail prices) in 2015. In the next five years, it grew at a CAGR of 2.41% per annum. In the medium term (by 2025), the indicator is forecast to slow down its growth and increase at a CAGR of 1.52% per annum.

The sauces and condiments industry has been growing and expanding in the past few years. In order to attract consumers’ attention, companies have been experimenting with new and different ingredients and flavors to create new and tastier condiments and sauce recipes. As a result, the industry has witnessed an explosion of variety. While previously there was only a handful of ketchup and tomato saucess, mustards and mayonnaises, now, there are numerous competing products on the market. Despite this, ketchup and tomato sauces, mustard, and mayo remain near the top of the list of most-used sauces overall, especially in the US. However, when dining at restaurants or in other food establishments, an increasing number of people is searching for specific sauces with distinctive flavor.

Currently, the number of consumers, who are looking for products with no additives or artificial preservatives, is increasing. In fact, the term behind this trend, which is called clean labelling is becoming more popular. Most of the people, nowadays, are aware of clean label claims and these claims influence their buying decisions in regard to sauces and condiments products. Demand for products with such labelling is increasing and people are inclined to pay a premium price for products with this specific label. In order to respond to the emerging clean label trend, companies within the sector are trying to appeal consumers by reformulating their ingredients and offering preservative-free products. Meanwhile, demand for “free from” products such as gluten free, sugar free, dairy free and more has also increased. Therefore, companies have been choosing higher-quality, additive-free ingredients for their products. Monosodium glutamate, in particular, has been considered unhealthy by many consumers worldwide, due to which they have been actively avoiding it in sauces and condiments. Instead, many of them have shifted to compound condiments such as stock cubes and soy sauces as tastier and premium products. Similarly, some companies have also decided to exclude high-fructose corn syrup from their formulations. Instead, they typically replace it with sucrose in the form of cane sugar or brown sugar. For instance, Best Foods Inc. launched a ketchup and tomato sauces that is sweetened with honey. Furthermore, due to the underlying shift in people's perceptions about food, demand for organic spices has also substantially increased. This is especially valid for commodities such as chilli, ginger and garlic. As a matter of fact, industry experts have estimated that the size of the global organic spices market accounts for about 5-7% of the total market, which is more than 750 million USD. Regionally, India, China and Vietnam are among the leading exporters of organic spices.