News

The secrets salad dressing packet sales relay about delivery growth

October 29, 2018

Food service delivery sales have bounced up 20 percent in the past five years, and now NPD Group said there's evidence that portion-controlled salad dressing sales are riding the elevator right along with them, according to a news release. 

Portion-controlled dressing is a staple of delivery orders and the gallons of those servings shipped to restaurants by broadline distributors grew 17 percent for the year that ended June 2018 compared to the previous year period, NPD Group said. 

Additionally, QSR led the pack on those orders, with the highest gains in individual-sized dressing orders taking place to brands in that service category, which represents more than 80 percent of restaurant delivery orders. NPD said dressing shipments to QSRs grew to 26 million gallons in 2017, a number driven by gains at large QSR chains. 

"Portion-control salad dressing is one example of the categories benefiting from the foodservice delivery boom," NPD Group Vice President of SupplyTrack Annie Roberts, said in the release. "Packaging for delivery is critical, which is why we're showing growth in portion-control packaging."

As far as what consumers are dousing their salads and sandwiches with, NPD said ranch-homestyle and buttermilk varieties, along with balsamic vinaigrette and Caesar all saw double-digit growth. Operator and manufacturer labels were the biggest share of shipment, with the steepest growth in operator-labeled dressing servings. represent the largest share of portion-control salad dressing shipped, with operator label.