7 more ways to use salad dressings
When using salad dressings in their recipes, consumers are finding all sorts of ways to dress up any dish. According to research by the Association for Dressings & Sauces and conducted by Turner Research Network, Americans use pourable salad dressings in far more ways than you would expect. A study of 866 respondents, aged 18-65, who purchased pourable salad dressings in the past 12 months found that aside from the traditional use on a green salad, pourable dressings are commonly used in 7 other ways.
While the majority of respondents used salad dressings on green salads (75%), nearly half used them in achilled dip (40%) like for chips and vegetables. Not far behind that was the use of salad dressings as an ingredient in a cold salad such as potato salad (35%). Also breaking 30% was the use of salad dressings as a condiment on a sandwich. Other uses included as a marinade (29%), as a baking ingredient (23%), in a hot dip (15%) and other uses (2%).
The national online survey also addressed demographic differences in the use of pourable salad dressings. Interestingly, Millennials, people age 18 – 34, are twice as likely to use dressings on a day to day basis as people over the age of 35. They also tend to use salad dressings to bake with and make dishes like casseroles with 15% more often than the average American.
Regional trends were also discovered through the survey. The Northeast reports using dry dressings more than any other region, the South uses regular dressings versus lite dressings most often, the Midwest uses grocery shelf dressings as a sandwich condiment more often than other regions and the West buys more salad dressings than any other region.
Conducted in December 2014 by Turner Research Network, the survey polled adult consumers, aged 18 to 65, who identified themselves as the primary or shared grocery shoppers in the household and who purchased any type of salad dressing products (grocery shelf, refrigerated or dry) from any retail outlet in the past 12 months. The sample for the survey was based on total U.S. households.
About the Association for Dressings & Sauces: The Association for Dressings and Sauces (ADS) was founded in 1926 and represents manufacturers of salad dressing, mayonnaise and condiment sauces and suppliers of raw materials, packaging and equipment to this segment of the food industry. Its purpose is to serve the best interests of industry members, its customers, and consumers of its products.
