Consumers go crazy for curry as manufacturers research sauces

When it was developing its five new Knorr Patak's sauces, Unilever Foodsolutions picked the brains of chefs working in the foodservice industry to gain an insight into how they use Indian sauces - and to ask for their opinions on the products available.

Qualitative research was carried out among 130 chefs from the profit and cost sector and operators were asked to take part in blind tastings of korma and tikka masala sauces that compared Knorr Patak's Tikka Masala with two other leading brands and Knorr Patak's Korma with one other leading brand and one distributor own-label.

The research confirmed the popularity of curry on operators' menus - almost three quarters (74%) of chefs surveyed serve curry on a regular basis and more than a quarter (26%) of all chefs always offer it.

Prepared sauces are also widely used to make curry - 39% of dishes.

This was especially the case in the profit sector, where twice as many chefs (42% versus 21%) said that they relied on finished sauces as in the cost sector.

The research also confirmed that a wide range of branded, prepared sauces is used in the kitchen and that the most popular types of curry served in respondents' establishments are korma (38% of dishes) and tikka masala (36%).