McCormick & Co.’s Cholula hot sauce enters frozen space with bowls

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Dive Brief:

• McCormick & Co.’s Cholula hot sauce is entering the frozen category for the first time with the launch of bowls. The offerings are aimed at busy consumers, especially families, who want flavor and convenience.
• The Frozen Cholula Burrito Bowls come in four varieties: Smoky Chipotle Chicken, Salsa Verde Chicken, Chili Lime Pork Carnitas and Smoky Chipotle Veggie.
• The bowls are debuting a year after McCormick rolled out Cholula Salsas and Taco Seasonings to expand the number of occasions where consumers could use the popular Mexican hot sauce.

Dive Insight:

With inflation causing consumers to cook more at home, McCormick and other companies are finding ways to make some of their most popular brands more accessible.

While the Maryland-based company is best known for its spices, seasoning mixes and other flavorings, it has moved aggressively into condiments. In 2017, it purchased Reckitt Benckiser’s Food Division for $4.2 billion, adding the iconic French’s mustard and Frank’s RedHot brands to the fold. McCormick added Cholula for $800 million in cash three years later.

For Cholula, the brand resonates with Gen Z and other shoppers looking for hot and spicy foods. Cholula’s move into salsas, taco seasonings and now bowls, enables McCormick to further tap into that trend but through different food types and occasions. While previous products were geared toward consumers who could add Cholula to other foods they are making or snacking on, the bowls provide people with a meal they could prepare in fewer than five minutes.

“Cholula continues to evolve as a brand — and versatility is a great way to keep it spicy,” Valda Coryat, McCormick & Co.’s North American vice president of marketing, told Food Dive. “Delighting fans with authentic Mexican flavor innovation in convenient formats is fundamental to Cholula remaining top-of-mind with consumers.”

Innovation within Cholula encourages existing customers to purchase the brand more often and attracts new users who have never purchased it before, according to Coryat. “After seeing success with our salsas and taco seasonings, we’re excited to bring a new way to enjoy the authentic Mexican taste of Cholula to the market,” Coryat added.

McCormick is no stranger to bringing its shelf-stable brands to the frozen space.

Frank’s RedHot sauce is in the category with products such as chicken wings, bites, snack rolls and dip. The brand also is launching a Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza as a limited-time offer in club stores this summer. Its Zatarain’s brand also offers single-serve and multi-entrees, including Blackened Chicken Alfredo, Blackened Shrimp Alfredo, Cajun Style Chicken Carbonara and Jambalaya.