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Salsa is #1 condiment...

The Hot Pepper

The Hot Pepper

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Okay, everyone's heard that salsa moved ahead of ketchup as the #1 condiment in the USA a few years back... does anyone believe this? I think it was hype by some industry, I haven't looked it up, I'm just posting my thoughts. Do Americans now put salsa on their fries and burgers? Do restaurants now have salsa on the table where they had ketchup? It may have to do with quantity. You can polish off a whole jar of salsa in one sitting, but if you eat a burger, you use a squirt. So maybe we are eating more salsa, quantity-wise. Thoughts?
 
Hard to measure that one THP. Last year I ate about a cup of salsa a day. This year I am more about fresh peppers and hot sauce. Ketchup isn't used much in my house. I only keep it around when making a quick batch of cocktail sauce for shrimp.
Now that you asked though...now I have a craving for some salsa and chips...gotta' go..
Cheers, TB.
 
I don't eat ketchup either, and on this site I know salsa and hot sauce are above ketchup, but for all Americans? Hard to believe.
 
Next time you are in a greasy spoon in Newark, ask for salsa :lol:

After you have asked for salsa and had the cook look at you like you are from Mars, ask for ketchup.

There's your answer.
 
My family and friends eat tonnes of salsa but ketchup mostly just on burgers and dogs. Restaurants should really offer more salsas IMO.
 
The source of the statistics:

This statistic is from Information Resources, which tracks purchases at roughly 35,000 stores. The research firm found that salsa outsold ketchup, $462.3 million to $298.9 million, this year through August 12. But ketchup edged out salsa by units sold, 176 million to 174.9 million. And because ketchup bottles tend to be bigger, ketchup trounced salsa in pounds sold, 329.8 million to 184.6 million. Research from ACNielsen, which monitored point-of-sale data, shows similar trends for sales and units sold.

It’s also important to note that the market-research data only count purchases in stores, meaning those ketchup packets handed out with the billions of fast-food burgers consumed annually don’t count (nor does salsa served with chips and other Mexican restaurant fare).

Meanwhile, another market researcher has found that ketchup has a much greater presence in homes. According to the NPD Group’s National Eating Trends report — which is based on diaries kept by 5,000 people in 2,000 households — 48% of households used ketchup in a typical two-week period last week, three times the percentage that used salsa. That proportion has held steady for over a decade: The percentages were 48 and 15, respectively, in 1996.

From: The Wall Street Journal, "The Numbers Guy", Sept 20, 2007
 
like natgreen mentioned, I figured it'd have something to do with some numbers game at the grocery stores. because I dont think nor see restaurants placing salsa at tables or wherever for people to use, well except certain locations.
forget ketchup/mustard/mayo (NASTY!!) give me BBQ sauce!!! I can put BBQ sauce on damn near everything & it'd taste good!
 
In my house we are not big ketchup eaters but ill tell you salsa dont last long here lol..Burgers my wife will use bbq sauce little one is hooked on mustard and me I use ed smith 3rd degree or or whatever else sets my fancy at the time.The only thing ive seen ketchup used for around here is my wife will put it on pizza...hmmmm yuck lol Well to each their own I guess hehehe
 
Canuk Pepperhead said:
The only thing ive seen ketchup used for around here is my wife will put it on pizza...hmmmm yuck lol Well to each their own I guess hehehe
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:sick::shame: but I remember your wife is one of those crazy ketchup eaters :lol: from a old thread on this forum, she just loves ketchup.
 
Canuk Pepperhead said:
Yeah I know she read the thread and corrected me on that..Shes not so bad now
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:lol: yea ok;) just tell her the 1st stage is denial & I'm sure theres some kind of ketchup anonymous out there to deal with her addiction, or a forum like this (THP) where ketchupheads can talk & swap stories :P
I'm just joking around to let ya know. because i know theres people out there that like ketchup on almost everything, & your wife sounds like one of'em.
 
I'd like to see some real data on this subject because I honestly believe that in 10 years restaurants will just give up and but squeeze bottles of Ranch on the tables.
 
chilehunter said:
because i know theres people out there that like ketchup on almost everything
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Took a pic-"how the hell do you attach a pic" of my t-shirt that my 5 yr old daughter got me for fathers day -

It says - "I put Ketchup on my Ketchup" needs visual sorry

Needless to say I always add a heap of the closest hot sauce to it.
 
chilehunter said:
:lol: yea ok;) just tell her the 1st stage is denial & I'm sure theres some kind of ketchup anonymous out there to deal with her addiction, or a forum like this (THP) where ketchupheads can talk & swap stories :P
I'm just joking around to let ya know. because i know theres people out there that like ketchup on almost everything, & your wife sounds like one of'em.
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You are probably right..after almost 14 years I just dont pay attention to the ketchup thing anymore I just take her word for it lol
 
willard3 said:
Next time you are in a greasy spoon in Newark, ask for salsa :lol:

After you have asked for salsa and had the cook look at you like you are from Mars, ask for ketchup.

There's your answer.
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I think that also depends on where you are geographically in this country....If you ask for ketchup in Brownsville, TX or even most of Miami you get that same "you're from Mars" look
 
I don't think a comparison between salsa and ketchup is really valid. They are different animals.

When was the last time you sat down with a bag of chips and went through a bottle of ketchup at one sitting?
 
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