With the encouragement of celebrity chefs, cooking programmes and fusion food restaurants, adventurous consumers are starting to use ethnic accompaniments more widely with mainstream as well as ethnic food. Soy sauce has benefited enormously from this trend. Kikkoman says sales of its naturally brewed soy brand have increased 10.6% over the last year and it's now launched a sweet version for western-style grilled foods. Kikkoman UK general manager Bing-Yu Lee says the slightly sweeter taste, which appeals to western palates, makes it a versatile table top sauce for a wide range of mainstream foods. "In Germany it now has 12% of the soy market, generating additional consumption rather than cannibalising regular soy sauce purchases," says Lee. Hot pepper sauces are becoming increasingly mainstream ­ WT Foods says its Encona Hot Pepper range has broken out of the ethnic mould ­ and getting hotter. Tabasco, world leader in hot pepper sauce, has recently brought out a mouth scorching habanero variant, along with a garlic sauce. Both are to be promoted in a London tube station poster campaign, starting later this month. Sco-Fro says its Far Eastern sauce range is being increasingly used with non-ethnic meals in fusion cuisine where oriental and European foods are combined. Patak's says its research shows consumers are using its traditional Indian pickles as sandwich fillings and as side of plate accompaniments to non-Indian food such as cold meats and salads. The ethnic accompaniment sector is burgeoning with product development, the latest being rice giant Tilda's move into authentic Indian mango chutney. The three traditional recipes in the range have been developed with Madhur Jaffrey. Sharwood's has also broadened its Green Label mango chutney range with light and fruity and hot and spicy variants. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}