(BPT) – Summer heat often brings lighter meals, and salads can bring a cool dish to the menu. How Americans dress their salads can vary, from ranch to vinaigrette and from bottles to jars to packets.
Consumers purchased salad dressings more often than just two years ago, the Association for Dressings and Sauces found in their January 2017 survey. What’s even more surprising? Men and Millennials played major roles in setting the table of trends for this popular condiment, as these groups showed some of the biggest swings in the past two years. The survey also uncovered that some of these upward trends pointed to new ways to use salad dressings, outside of salads.
Salad dressings being purchased more often
All three types of salad dressings saw an increase in purchase frequency. When consumers were asked when they most recently purchased salad dressing, the most popular answer was within the past month. Bottled grocery shelf dressings saw 52 percent of consumers buying the product within the past month, compared with 44 percent in the prior survey conducted two years ago. For refrigerated salad dressings, 33 percent of consumers bought them within the past month (compared with 26 percent prior). And for dry packet salad dressings, 25 percent bought them within the past month, compared with 22 percent before.
One of the biggest catalysts for the growth was with men and those 18-34 years of age.
Men reaching more often for dressings, reading more labels
The survey discovered twice as many men (42 percent now compared with 21 percent before) using dry packet dressings several times a week. What could they possibly be doing with all of this dry salad dressing? The study found that men are using dry dressings more on a sandwich as a condiment or added flavor and as an ingredient in a hot dip. For example, try a vegetarian ranch taco salad with a packet of dry ranch salad dressing, taco seasoning and mayonnaise over top of mixed greens, cilantro, black beans, mango and tortilla chips. That full recipe can be found at dressings-sauces.org.
Another interesting trend has been the increase in popularity of lite or lower fat, organic and clean label salad dressings, particularly among the dry dressings category among men. Again, more men than before are buying lite or lower fat at 34 percent (from 31 percent), organic dressing purchased by men increased to 28 percent (from 13 percent) and clean label dressing products increased to 14 percent (from 9 percent).
Millennials buying more and more often
The January survey also revealed that young buyers, age 18 to 34, are buying more, with 52 percent buying grocery shelf dressings in the past month, compared with 43 percent two years ago. For dry packet dressings, 30 percent of Millennials bought the product in the past month, compared with 23 percent two years ago. And 38 percent bought refrigerated product versus 24 percent two years ago.
Once the product is bought, the survey found Millennials are using salad dressings more often. About four in 10 younger buyers are using all three types more often than they did prior. With Millennials’ interest in the culinary arts, some may be making their own dishes, such as hot dips. For example, here is a recipe for Buffalo chicken dip that utilizes bleu cheese dressing. Mix together some cooked and shredded chicken, bleu cheese dressing, bleu cheese crumbles, buffalo wing sauce and cream cheese, and the results are delicious (the recipe can be found at dressings-sauces.org).
