There are two types of people in this world, those who love hot sauce and those who don’t. If you happen to be in the camp of those who really appreciate something spicy, then you will also appreciate this study conducted by Instacart.
In order to look into the love that America has for hot sauce even deeper, Instacart teamed up with Harris Poll to take a close look at the data. The data included surveys, as well as information from sales that showed how hot sauces were a favorite across many different states.
The study showed some interesting information, such as which state in the United States is responsible for purchasing more hot sauce. There were also other insights that were quite spicy, if you’ll forgive the pun.
It seems as if 74% of people in the United States love dipping their food in hot sauce. 67% of those individuals are especially appreciative of a particular brand, and 68% said that they have at least two varieties of hot sauce available at any given time.
59% of those who responded said that they prefer a sauce that is somewhat hot, with 46% preferring a “regular hot” sauce. 14%, however, would like the sauce to be as hot as it possibly can be.
In 31 states, the most popular sauce brand was Huy Fong’s Sriracha. 14 states in the United States preferred Frank’s RedHot. There were also some states who appreciated other types of sauce, such as Texas Pete, which is popular in California. In Mississippi, they love their Louisiana hot sauce and in North Dakota, it’s a local favorite, Village Hot Sauce from Grand Forks.
If you happen to live in New Mexico, you probably know that your fellow state residents are quite fond of their Bueno brand hot sauce.
Instacart’s trend expert, Laurentia Romaniuk, had something to say on the subject: “Over the past year, we’ve noticed that hot sauce enthusiasts are reaching for newer brands like Maya Kaimal and TRUFF, which top the list for Instacart’s fastest-growing hot sauce brands. These newer brands are likely gaining traction among hot sauce enthusiasts because they offer up unique flavor profiles that also pack a punch, incorporating everything from truffles to traditional Indian spices. With many hot sauce lovers willing to go to Scoville extremes, it’s no surprise they’re also branching out and becoming more adventurous when it comes to discovering new flavor options.”
2021 sales of hot sauce through Instacart show that in North Dakota, more hot sauce is purchased per capita than in any other state. It came in at a whopping 5.4 ounces per customer.
Coming in second with 4 ounces were the states of Carolina (North and South), and New Mexico.
Then again, people who live in Iowa, Arkansas, and Hawaii are not particularly fond of hot sauce, although there are pockets of those who really appreciate it.
At this point, you may be wondering what people use as a base for hot sauce. Most people tend to put it on a burrito or taco, but 17% of those who love hot sauce also put it on popcorn and 8% even put it on ice cream!
There are also times of the year in which hot sauce is more popular, such as when the Super Bowl is coming up and a 45% increase in hot sauce is ordered.