Brown and out! Has great British sauce had its chips?

IT HAS been a national favourite for more than 100 years and can be found everywhere from ‘greasy spoon’ cafes to luxury hotels.

But it now seems that brown sauce is increasingly being left on the shelf by consumers.

Sales of the condiment fell by 19 per cent last year, according to industry analysts, with changing food tastes and a greater awareness of healthy eating thought to be behind the drop.

HP Sauce has been a national institution since it was created in 1895 by Nottingham grocer Frederick Gibson Garton, who claimed it was being served at the Houses of Parliament.

Sir John Betjeman referenced it in his poem Lake District, while Harold Wilson’s wife once complained in a newspaper interview that the former Labour Prime Minister would ‘drown everything in HP Sauce’.

However, figures from market research company Mintel show that sales of brown sauce fell from 16million kilos in 2013 to 13million kilos last year, with the amount spent on various brannds dropping 17 per cent from £47million to £39million during the same period.

Experts say that the public’s concerns over salt content, a decline in the popularity of cholesterol-busting dishes such as breakfast fry-ups, and the rising popularity of other breakfast foods such as porridge, have caused the decline.

But despite the news, fans of the sauce are determined to prove that it hasn’t had its chips.

Mail on Sunday food critic Tom Parker Bowles said: ‘A fry-up without HP is unthinkable, as is a bacon sandwich.

‘It’s a taste of Empire long passed, and you’ll find it everywhere from Formicatopped cafe tables to the gilded magnificence of The Ritz.

‘It is a great British condiment, the perfect mixture of rich fruit and sharp vinegar.

‘Let’s hope the drop is a blip rather than long-term decline. This is an SOS – Save Our Sauce.’

Sales of tomato ketchup are also down, but not as steeply as brown sauce, mainly due to the large quantities consumed in fast-food outlets.

Richard Ford, senior food analyst at Mintel, said: ‘Volume and value declines of brown sauce and ketchup reflect changing eating habits. The most common reason to forgo table sauces is a typical meal no longer requires them.’

A spokesman for Heinz, the American firm that bought the British brand in 2005 and which also owns rival Daddies, said: ‘This is at odds with our data and independent analysis.

‘HP Sauce has seen slightly lower value sales since smaller packs have proved popular.

‘However, sales of HP bottles are up two per cent, reflecting its ongoing popularity.’

Both HP and Daddies are made in the Netherlands, leaving the OK range by Norwich-based Colman’s as the UK’s only home-produced brown sauce.