Global warming is on the tip of our tongues – when stoked by spices and seasonings. They add zesty tastes and healthful ingredients to meals at home in a few quick shakes – no scratch-cooking necessary.
People are curious about what their neighbors eat, especially their multicultural neighbors. Also, the lofty pace of general market travel abroad (thank you, strong dollar) exposes millions to global cuisines that many want to replicate at home. These trends drive mainstream demand for different tastes among general market consumers.
This desire should accelerate, says Facts, Figures & The Future (F3). The U.S. already has more than 120 million Hispanics, Asian-Americans, African-Americans and other groups growing by 2.3 million per year, Nielsen reports, and these young cohorts already comprise 38% of the nation’s populace. They are today’s fastest-growing segments, forecast by Census to be in the majority by the year 2044.
Innovative flavor combinations enliven more eating at home since the recession. Continued demand shows in annual unit and dollar sales rises for the “herb and spice seasonings” category the past three years, according to Nielsen all U.S. outlets data, including convenience stores, with the most recent period ended March 28, 2015. Successive unit sales gains of 2.3%, 2.3% and 2.9% drove dollar sales gains of 6.2%, 3.9% and 3.4% to $3.04 billion.
http://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/demand-kicks-up-for-spicy-tastes.html