Key Takeaways:

• The size of the U.S. Pasta Sauce market was $4.030 billion in 2020, and it was expected to expand to $4.475 billion in 2021 
•  Rao's, Newmans Own, Prego, Whole Foods, Michaels of Brooklyn Classico, Barilla, Trader Joe's, Primal Kitchen, Bertolli, Victoria Fine Foods, and Yo Mama's are ten of some of the top jarred pasta sauce brands in the U.S.
• The influence of ingredients on consumer purchase decisions in the pasta sauce market is reflected in the efforts made by brands to advertise their health-friendly properties.

Introduction:

• This report provides the U.S. pasta sauce revenue, as well as the top jarred pasta sauce brands. It also offers insights into the factors impacting purchase decisions, and attempts to create a price map for jarred pasta sauce. Below is an overview of the findings, as well as an explanation of the methodology used.

Pasta Sauce Revenue

• According to a Statista report, the U.S. market size for Pasta Sauce was approximately $2.44 billion in 2015. The report provides estimates for up to 2020, but it is paywalled so more recent estimates could not be accessed.
• A Course Hero analysis quotes data from a 2017 Mintel report that estimates that the U.S. Pasta Sauce market was at about $2.6 billion in 2017.
• A more recent research report by 360iResearch estimated that the size of the U.S. Pasta Sauce market was $4.030 billion in 2020, and it was expected to expand to $4.475 billion in 2021. Also, the U.S. Pasta Sauce market was expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.34% to hit $6.519 billion by 2026.

• A paywalled report by IBISWorld provides insights into the Pasta Sauce Production industry in the United States. It should be noted that this market is different since it focuses on the size of production, while the pasta sauce market focuses on the sales revenue of pasta sauces in the U.S. According to the report, the market size of Pasta Production market in the U.S. is $6.5 billion in 2021.

Top Jarred Pasta Sauce Brands

• Statista calculated statistics using data from the Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS) and the U.S. Census Bureau. The statistic found that Ragu was the most used/popular pasta sauce in the U.S. with over 90.67 million users in 2020, overall. The report ranks 13 other brands by number of users in the U.S., with Prego, Bertolli, Hunt's, Barilla, Classico, Store brand, Progresso, Newman's Own, and Delmonte making top-10.
• The Statista list would be a viable indicator of the overall trend in the U.S. Pasta Sauce market, especially due to the large number of respondents. However, the research team was still tasked with identifying the top players in the 'Jarred' Pasta Sauce Space
• Therefore, we explored over 10 lists/rankings from credible sources such as NYMag, the Kitchn, the LA Times, the Spruce Eats, Thrillist, Eat This, Insider, Camille Styles, Simply Recipes, and NewJersey.com.
• From the rankings, the following would be the top 'Jarred' Pasta Sauce brands based on the number of positive mentions over a broad cross section of recent credible publicly available sources:

•  Rao's - 12 mentions
•  Newmans Own - six mentions
•  Prego - five mentions
•  Whole Foods - five mentions
•  Michaels of Brooklyn - four mentions
•  Classico - four mentions
•  Barilla - four mentions
•  Trader Joe's - four mentions
•  Primal Kitchen - four mentions
•  Bertolli - three mentions
•  Victoria Fine Foods- two mentions
•  Yo Mama's - two mentions

• Based on the analysis conducted, Marinara is by far the most popular 'Jarred' Pasta Sauce variety. In fact, it is the only variety featured in some of the sources explored. Most other varieties have only been mentioned a few times.
• From the rankings, the following would be the top 'Jarred' Pasta Sauce varieties based on the number of mentions over a broad cross section of recent credible publicly available sources:

• Marinara
• Vodka
• Tomato & Basil
• Sweet Basil
• Roasted Garlic & Herb
• Mushroom & Ripe Olives
• Traditional
• Bellisima Basil
• Pomodorini
• Italian Herb
• Alfredo Sauce

Purchase Factors

•  Ingredients would be among the factors affecting purchase decisions for consumers with celiac or non-celiac sensitivity to gluten. According to Verywellfit, they may want to stay away from brands that produce gluten-containing spaghetti sauces, to avoid cross-contamination.
• In the United States, consumers are becoming more health conscious, which has prompted leading pasta sauce producers to veer towards innovative organic spaghetti sauces made with preservative-free and natural ingredients.
• Also, the growing awareness of the health risks from the consumption of GMO products has helped to increase the sales of natural-labeled pasta sauces in the United States.
• The influence of ingredients on consumer purchase decisions in the pasta sauce market is reflected in the efforts made by brands to advertise their health-friendly properties. This can be seen in Amazon product listings for products from key players such as Newman's Own, Barilla, Rao, Mario Batali, Prego, and Emeril's.
• Interest in the vegan diet grew seven-fold from 2014-2017 in the U.S.. Veganism is now a big-enough trend to influence large players such as Prego to develop and introduce new vegan pasta sauce products. Notably, vegan claims increased from 6.1% of pasta sauce product launches in 2017 to about 15.3% of launches through 2020.
• Increasing disposable income among pasta sauce consumers and premiumization of pasta sauce products are other factors that are catalyzing the growth of the market. Additionally, hectic lifestyles have led Americans to shift to easy-to-cook and packaged foods.

Price Map

• Price for jarred pasta sauces start at less than $1, with the lowest-priced product going for $0.94 on Amazon. The highest-valued products are priced over $20 per jar. Other highly-priced options include TRUFF's $15 pasta sauce.
• An article by the Daily Meal claims to review nine 'premium' pasta sauces, and a look at their price ranges showed that they were priced from $3.99 to about $14.77. Interestingly, the one valued at $3.99 claims 'premium-quality' status, while more expensive options in the list do not.
• An analysis of over 100 pasta sauce products showed that the 'premium quality' claim is made by brands in varying price ranges. For example, both Rao's $7.99 Homemade Marinara and Barilla's $14.77 Tomato & Basil pasta sauces claim premium quality, while Newman's Own $12 Marinara does not.
• None of the analyzed products identified as value products. Although value is defined as the least expensive products, which would be the ones in the $1 range, in this case.
• Based on the above data, value products would be products in the $1 range. Premium products would be those priced at or over $3.99. Mid-range brands are those with products between the two price ranges.

Research Strategy