Hmmm, somehow the phrase “Hot-sauce magnate” just doesn’t roll off the tongue. But who knows? Maybe in 20 years Frank’s Red Hot will be as popular with Americans as Coke or Oscar Meyer. According to IBIS, the condiment is rapidly gaining popularity with the American public. “Demand for hot sauce has been driven by demographic consumption trends, immigration and international demand from the United Kingdom and Japan. As Americans’ palates have become more diverse, hot sauce has earned tenure on the dinner table.” And as Slate points out, hot sauce contains capsaicin: “People that eat lots of spicy capsaicin-rich foods build up a tolerance to it. The incentive: a small jolt of capsaicin excites the nervous system into producing endorphins, which promote a pleasant sense of well-being.” Highly addictive and delicious? You’d be a fool not to get in on the ground floor.
Average annual growth 2002-2012: 9.3%
Projected annual growth 2012-2017: 4.1%
PHOTOS: What the World Eats