In the past few years, it has been observed that the demand for ethnic cuisines, including Mexican, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and Korean, in the U.S. has been increasing dramatically. People who enjoy consuming ethnic foods have risen in number, which is why the number of ethnic restaurants in the country has also increased. In 2011, the ethnic food market generated about $3 billion and increased to reach a value of $3.9 billion in 2016. Ascribed to these reasons, the food industry in the U.S. is witnessing new trends such as the growth in demand for sauces. 

The usage of different kinds of sauces in ethnic foods is quite common, which is why, the U.S. sauces market is predicted to generate a revenue of $22.4 billion by 2024, increasing from $18.6 billion in 2018, progressing at a 3.3% CAGR during the forecast period (2019–2024). The three major types of sauces are dips, table sauces, and cooking sauces. Out of these, the demand for table sauces was the highest in 2018, which is primarily attributed to the changing food preferences of people in the U.S. Table sauces are further of different types including oyster sauce, mayonnaise, horseradish sauce, tomato sauce, schezwan sauce, soy sauce, mustard sauce, chilli sauce, and barbecue sauce. 

Mayonnaise was consumed the most among all these sauces, which is because of the rising popularity of salads and fast-food and increasing requirement from youngsters for more snacking items. Other than this, the demand for chilli and soy sauces is also projected to rise significantly in the coming years. Furthermore, because of the increasing traction of ethnic foods in the U.S., the demand for dips is also expected to grow in the near future. This is also predicted to result in the growth of the U.S. sauces market. 

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The types of cooking sauces are dry sauces/powder mixes and wet sauces, between which, the demand for wet sauces was more in the past. This was ascribed to the shift towards healthy eating habits, thereby leading to the preference for home-cooked meals instead of ready-made items. Moreover, owing to the rising health consciousness among people in the U.S., the demand for natural and organic sauces is growing as well. People are increasingly opting for organic diet and are focusing on avoiding consumption of food products which contain genetically modified organisms and artificial additives. Due to this, sauce and snack companies in the country are launching gluten-free varieties in the market for catering to customers with dietary considerations. 

Sauces are distributed through various channels, including specialist stores, supermarkets/hypermarkets, online platforms, and convenience stores. Some other distribution channels include independent small grocers, discount stores, forecourt retailers, and health and beauty specialist retailers. Out of all these, the largest demand for sauces in the U.S. was generated through supermarket/hypermarkets in the past, which is because of the increasing number of such outlets in the country and the preference of people for these outlets. 

Hence, the demand for sauce in the U.S. is growing due to the rising preference for ethnic foods.