Over half (54%) of Irish consumers say they prefer to buy pre-made pasta sauces than make their own from scratch, according to a new survey by Empathy Research.
Of 955 participants, slightly more men (58%) than women (51%) admit to preferring to buy a ready-made sauce than prepare it themselves with raw ingredients.
However, just a third (31%) of Irish shoppers say they always make their own pasta sauce, with more women (35%) than men (27%) doing so when cooking. Just over a third of participants living in Dublin (35%) and the rest of Leinster (34%) always make their own pasta sauce. This is higher than Munster (29%) and Connacht/Ulster (25%).
Over a third (37%) of shoppers said that when buying pasta sauces, they will only buy their preferred brand. Noticeably, people with children stick to their preferred brands of sauce more (42%), than those without children (33%), which may demonstrate that children’s tastes have more sway on their parents than price.
Fewer than a third (32%) of 18-24 year olds only buy their preferred brand of pasta sauce, and this is much lower than all other age groups; 25-34 (41%), 35-44 (39%) and 45+ (38%).
Product innovation and new flavours were given a positive reception by the survey participants. Nearly half (47%) of the 955 respondents said that they are open to trying new flavours of pasta sauce brands, although this was largely driven by the younger age groups, 18-24 (56%) and 25-34 (53%). Those aged 35-44 (46%) and 45+ (43%) were slightly less willing to try new flavours in pasta sauces.
Click here for more information from Empathy Research.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
