As if we needed any more justification that Huy Fong’s sriracha is THE hottest condiment on the market today, billionaire investor Mark Cuban has put his faith – and money – in a new project that could revolutionize the way we consume the spicy sauce.
Sriracha2Go, a new startup company, first introduced a portable way to carry the “rooster sauce” last year after recognizing how difficult it was to find at the majority of dining establishments in the U.S. After rapid sales of a refillable plastic keychain designed to hold sriracha boosted the company’s success, the founders created a new solution for taking the spicy ingredient on the go.
New Sriracha2Go packets take the idea of the portable bottle keychain and turn it upside down – the small, lightweight pouches meet the growing demand for packaging that can easily be taken on the go and then disposed without adding bulk or heft. Fans of the hot sauce can expect to see the sriracha packets in restaurants, fast-food chains, campuses, stadiums, and more throughout this year. Consumers can also purchase the individual packets online, and retailers can get their hands on wholesale quantities to stay ahead of the trend.
What makes this method of packaging sauces so ingenious is that it marries tradition with innovation: two concepts that can place and keep brands on the map. Condiments like ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce have been sold in small, flexible pouches for decades, but this product marks the first time that sriracha has been available in this type of container.
What has made Huy Fong’s sauce so appealing – especially to influential millennial consumers – is its signature packaging. The simple design on the classic hot sauce bottles features a rooster illustration, along with bilingual text that gives the product a more authentic Asian feel. The sriracha brand does not rely on traditional advertising for its products, making younger shoppers feel like they’ve stumbled upon a hidden gem that consumes their senses with its unique recipe of chili-flavored goodness.
The term “sriracha” is not trademarked, and as a result, brands like Heinz and Tobasco have put their own versions of the condiment out on the market. However, customers seeking out the first and most authentic version of the sauce instinctively search for that signature rooster and classic branding. This form of visual marketing gives a strong indication of where advertising and packaging is headed. Shoppers can find sriracha-inspired items (like sriracha-flavored popcorn) available not only in food stores, but also in trendy retail locations, with clothing and accessories companies releasing items like T-shirts and hats boasting the classic sriracha bottle design.
To put some of this into perspective, Huy Fong’s founder, David Tran, was known for using unconventional marketing techniques when he first created the sauce back in 1975. Tran would hand deliver his spicy condiment to Asian food restaurants around Los Angeles rather than spending money on ads. He was confident that the flavor would appeal to consumers – and he was right. The sauce has become a staple in many Americans’ homes since, and now it will become an expected commodity in restaurants across the country.
The Sriracha2Go founders have brilliantly taken a cue from Tran’s method of distributing his product, providing convenience and ease of use to the end user, while embracing flexible pouches for their new way of packaging sauces. The tear notch at the top makes it easy to open and squeeze the product out, and the empty container is slim and tiny enough to be tossed in the trash without taking up a ton of space.
This has become an important packaging feature for consumers and retailers alike, as evidenced by a new report titled, “A Ten Year Strategic Outlook for the Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market.” The data shows the flexible packaging market is still rising ahead of other competing containers and materials, setting Sriracha2Go’s flexible pouches up for great success in the next decade.
The importance of viewing packaging as an essential tool for marketing and selling a product cannot be overlooked. We can think of this new method of packaging and distributing sriracha as a “brand refresh” of sorts, opening new doors for the product to get into more consumers’ hands across the globe.
Whereas the traditional sriracha bottle may be easy to locate on store shelves, sticking with the same branding on a new, lightweight pouch still retains that instant brand recognition with added convenience, portability, and portioned amounts of sauce. Flexible pouches for packaging sauces allows Cuban, the startup founders, and the Huy Fong brand to expand the reach of their product line, appeal to younger and influential consumers, and keep the spicy condiment the No. 1 preferred hot sauce around the world.
(Image Source: Sriracha2Go.com)
