The spicy condiment trend showed no signs of cooling down as fiery sauces dominated the UK Food & Drink Shows last week.
Sofie Rooney, the founder of Korean-inspired hot sauce brand Chimac, scooped the Dragons’ Pantry award at the Farm Shop & Deli Show, after impressing industry experts with her 15-minute pitch.
Chimac’s range of fusion sauces were designed to bring “big flavour into people’s homes in a way that’s accessible, exciting and genuinely fun”, Rooney told The Grocer.
Inspired by a trip to Korea and the country’s ‘chimaek’ culture, where fried chicken and beer are served side-by-side, Rooney and her husband Garret FitzGerald opened their restaurant Chimac in Dublin in 2019.
The couple developed a range of signature sauces in-house and launched into retail in 2021 after they proved popular with customers.
Developed to deliver “bold fusion flavour with minimal effort”, Chimac’s core range includes Korean Hot Sauce, K‑BBQ Sauce, Sriracha Caramel and Kimchi Ketchup (rsp: £8/350ml).
The brand is produced in Dublin and stocked in more than 800 retailers across 12 countries.
“Winning Dragons’ Pantry was a significant moment for us,” said Rooney. “Although we are an Irish brand, the UK is a major focus for Chimac, so to receive that level of validation from people who genuinely understand what it takes to succeed on shelf was incredibly valuable.”
Judge Grahame Day, who is also MD of The Gorgeous Food Company, said Chimac was a worthy winner. “They delivered on every element. The flavour of the products is exceptional, the branding is bright and eye‑catching, and the pitch was informative and engaging,” he said.
Several other spicy sauce brands showcased at the Dragons’ Pantry, including Taishon, a Far East-inspired condiment brand.
Taishon launched in January 2025 with a duo of “versatile” sauces – Peking and Korean – tipped to accompany a wide range of dishes including broths, stir‑fries and noodles.
The brand unveiled a “hot and tangy” Saigon variant, made with a blend of chilli, lime and cracked pepper (rsp from £4.99), at the shows.
Growing shopper interest in Asian cuisine was helping drive the spicy sauce boom, Taishon founder Nicolaus Cleeve told The Grocer.
Red Panda Chilli Crisp also pitched its condiment, which is “much milder than most chilli sauces”, to the Dragons’ Pantry judges.
Spicy sauces continue to prove popular with Brits. Nando’s table sauces added £3.1m last year, with volumes up 9.5% [NIQ 52 w/e 6 September 2025]. Meanwhile Sauce Shop grew volumes by 30.7% over the period, citing distribution gains for its Buffalo Hot and Pineapple Habanero sauces.
Shoppers’ growing appetite for spicy flavours has influenced innovation in other categories. Take Jaffa Cakes Hot Honey, which hit shelves in June, followed by Absolut Tabasco, which launched in February.
The trend appears to be being driven by younger shoppers. According to a survey commissioned by Ginsters, which added Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Chicken Pocket last month, a third of Gen Z (33%) feel a snack or meal is incomplete without hot sauce, compared with 15% of Brits overall [OnePoll sample of 2,000 UK adults March 2026].
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