Dive Brief:
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Sugarmade's flavoring innovation Seasonings Stix are adding trendy hot sauce Sriracha to its product lineup, according to a company statement. Seasoning Stix are placed inside meat, poultry and fish, where they melt during cooking, providing flavor.
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Huy Fong Foods is partnering with Sugarmade on this launch. When Sugarmade announced the creation of Sriracha Seasoning Stix, 60,000 people signed up for free samples and shipping.
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Sugarmade has been struggling to perfect the manufacturing process for Seasoning Stix, as well as find a facility to make them. The company now has the capacity and location to go into mass production on many flavors of the innovation.
Dive Insight:
Even with a trendy flavor like Sriracha, Seasoning Stix are likely to remain niche products. For consumers concerned with touching uncooked meats, poultry and fish, the product makes flavorful cooking easier. But they are unlikely to upend the seasoning market, with many consumers likely to keep seasoning meat in less expensive ways with items they are likely to already have in their pantries, like salt.
Many consumers are demanding foods that are lower in sodium, fat and sugars without sacrificing taste. And today's tastes often demand something exotic and flavorful — 40% of millennials have tried sweet and spicy foods. Hot sauces bring the flavor and many of the health benefits to a dish. And hot sauces are wildly popular, posting 150% growth since 2000, according to Forbes.
But traditional methods such as marinades and rubs can be messy, either burning or failing to penetrate the food, or not adding enough flavor. Seasoning Stix flavor the meat starting on the inside, according to Sugarmade. This displaces the need to evenly spread or rub something on a raw meat surface, as well as the need to closely monitor a dish to minimize burning. It's more convenient and quick for the consumer, and eliminates the need to touch raw meat, so consumers don't have to get their hands as dirty.
Even if Seasoning Stix do start to replace rubs and marinades, traditional seasonings will still be vital for consumers. What else will they be able to put on their meal once it is on their plate?