What's up with A.1. Sauce?

[Grrr]

@pulykamell

It seems to me that this A1 stuff comes and goes. I remember it being plugged maybe a decade or so ago, but there does seem to be another wave of it going on. The Whataburger chain, for instance, has had an A1 burger since the late 90s, and Jack Links has had their A1 Beef Jerky for at least five years. I don’t quite get the appeal behind making the bun itself with A1, but I do like A1 used judiciously (though I prefer other brown sauces like HP because they’re not quite as “sharp” and overpowering as A1.)

I remember back in the early 90s one of the major pizza chains having a steak pizza with A1 sauce on it.

[Fleetwood]

@Kimballkid

I’m waiting for them to push Heinz 57 sauce.

It adds zing!!

Well, they are from the same company now.KraftHeinz

[kenobi_65]

@BrainGlutton

How much sugar is in A1?

2g of sugar in a 17g (1 tablespoon) serving, so, about 12% (and, frankly, 2g is pretty negligible).

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0374/7641/products/054400000054NF.jpeg?v=1415805335

[Colibri]

@kenobi_65

One tactic is to convince consumers that it can be used for more than steak;

I like it on a Western Omelet; it’s quite good with ham.

[Measure_for_Measure]

@kenobi_65

2g of sugar in a 17g (1 tablespoon) serving, so, about 12% (and, frankly, 2g is pretty negligible).

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0374/7641/products/054400000054NF.jpeg?v=1415805335

Contrast with ketchup: 3.4 grams over 15 grams: 23%.

(My 30% figure came from memory. Original citation is Consumer Reports.)

The Healthiest and Unhealthiest Condiments for Topping Your Sandwich

[Dr.Strangelove]

@Peremensoe

Isn’t A1 Sauce already (and long) much more popular than sriracha (in US)?

It’s more popular, but not much more popular. Huy-Fong’s Sriracha sales are $80M/yr, largely in the US. A.1. is about $132M/yr.

You’re substantially more likely to find A.1. in some given household than Sriracha, but you’ll find the latter on the table in almost any Asian restaurant, whereas having A.1. on the table is somewhat rare.

[Slithy_Tove]

@Johnny_L.A

Like the fish sauce.

Not anticipating a mainstream craze on that one.

[Morgenstern]

Sweet Baby Ray’s is what they server in Heaven. Og won’t even let them bring the others anywhere near there.

[TBG]

@Dr.Strangelove

It’s more popular, but not much more popular. Huy-Fong’s Sriracha sales are $80M/yr, largely in the US. A.1. is about $132M/yr.

You’re substantially more likely to find A.1. in some given household than Sriracha, but you’ll find the latter on the table in almost any Asian restaurant, whereas having A.1. on the table is somewhat rare.

Most places that serve steak either have A1 on the tables (not rare at all), or will bring a bottle on request (usually because they have a bottle of their own sauce at the table they think they can trick you into using for some reason).

[zombywoof]

It’s co-branding, like the Doritos Taco Bell shells - I’d expect to see the trend towards this sort of marketing grow.

[Dr.Strangelove]

@TBG

Most places that serve steak either have A1 on the tables (not rare at all), or will bring a bottle on request (usually because they have a bottle of their own sauce at the table they think they can trick you into using for some reason).

Right, but there’s only a particular grade of mid-range steakhouse (Outback, Black Angus, etc.) where you’d expect to see A.1. on the table, whereas Sriracha on the table is basically universal in any Chinese, Korean, Thai, etc. place. As a fraction of all the restaurants out there, I’d say Sriracha is much more common. Steakhouses in general are fairly niche.

[Ukulele_Ike]

@kenobi_65

2g of sugar in a 17g (1 tablespoon) serving…

Corn syrup, really. I just looked at the bottle in my kitchen, which I haven’t used in months.

I will break it out if I’ve made a chuck steak, or some other cheap cut, which doesn’t happen much anymore because we’ve gone for quality over quantity, meat-wise. And even then I’d be more likely to grab the Pickapeppa sauce.

[Skywatcher]

Burger King has been offering a bacon cheeseburger with A1 for a little over a year.

[Flyer]

@Peremensoe

I would guess that it is the reverse. Rather than using crappy fast-food burgers to sell A1, they are using the enduring popularity of A1 to try to save declining sales of fast-food burgers.

That’s an interesting theory, but it’s invalidated by the fact that Burger King is doing it.

[Peremensoe]

@Flyer

That’s an interesting theory, but it’s invalidated by the fact that Burger King is doing it.

There are plenty of stories about BK doing well this year, especially relative to McDonald’s. But none that I saw attribute this to consumers turning back toward fast-food burgers as such. “Chicken fries” get the most credit, followed by jalapenos.