Battle of the sauces: MasterFoods Barbecue Sauce just crashed Fashion Week

Source: Supplied

Much like Meryl and Stanley in Milan, on May 14, MasterFoods Barbecue Sauce crashed Fashion Week in Sydney to make a point about the great Australian sauce divide.

Barbecue Sauce took a front row seat at Jordan Gogos’ exclusive consumer show, mingled backstage with designers and models and posed for street-style moments outside, with MasterFoods research revealing Australians see Tomato and Barbecue as personality types as much as condiments.


The research also found Australians are using Barbecue Sauce in ways nobody asked for, but apparently everyone is doing, including on vanilla ice cream, pavlova, popcorn, instant noodles and spaghetti bolognese.

Davina Takiari, Portfolio Marketing Manager at MasterFoods, said, “As a lifelong foodie and fan of our iconic brands, it has always been clear just how much Aussies read into their friends’ and their own food choices. Those divisions only get stronger when it comes to classics like their favourite sauces.

“We see the MasterFoods Barbecue Sauce vs. MasterFoods Tomato Sauce debate play out at sports fields, local community barbecues, dinner tables and shopping aisles across the country. By bringing Barbecue to fashion week, we wanted to give this discussion a national platform – so every Aussie can ask themselves whether they are giving Barbecue Energy, or if they are more Tomato-coded.”

Barbecue vs Tomato

Tomato Sauce is the nation’s safe pair of hands. Australians associate it with being classic (69%) and reliable (63%), the sauce you reach for when you want to get it right.

In contrast, barbecue Sauce is the wildcard – more likely to be described as adventurous (41%), creative (39%) and edgy (39%).

The divide spills beyond the dinner table into how Australians think about people and relationships. Nearly half of Australians (49%) would trust a Tomato Sauce personality to dress them for an important event.

But for energy and fun, Barbecue wins, with twice as many Aussies saying a Barbecue personality brings more to a dinner party (50% vs 26% for Tomato) and is more likely to keep things exciting (47% vs 26% for Tomato).

That unpredictability also has an obvious downside. More than a third of Australians (35%) worry a Barbecue personality would ghost them on a dating app, rising to nearly half (49%) of Gen Z. And while Barbecue leads for dating and fun, almost half of Australians (48%) would rather settle down with a Tomato personality for long-term commitment.

Beyond Fashion Week, Barbecue Sauce shared the spotlight with Lily Brown and Jett Kenny and secured an official talent listing on the Khoo Management website.

Source: Herd MSL

Find more food culture updates on Crumb Wire.

Pallavi Mathur

pallavim9893@gmail.com

Pallavi Mathur is the founder and editor of Crumb Wire. She cut her teeth in PR before turning her lifelong passion for food into a full time gig. Pallavi brings readers a daily digest of what's hot in food and drink, covering restaurants, retail and features rooted firmly in food culture.

https://crumbwire.com/

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