Orkla: A strategic growth foundation for the condiment category

How do you uncover growth opportunities in a familiar category that is used every day –  but rarely actively reconsidered by consumers?

Orkla wanted to build a deeper understanding of the Danish condiment category and identify where future growth could come from.

The task was to look beyond category size and market share, and understand how condiments actually live in people’s everyday meals: how they are bought, stored, used, substituted, chosen and sometimes forgotten.

The project also assessed the roles and future potential of Orkla’s key condiment brands, including Bähncke and Beauvais, in a changing category landscape.

The challenge

Condiments are a high-frequency but often low-involvement category. They are present in most homes, but consumer choices are often driven by habit, meal routines, price, familiarity and availability.

At the same time, the category is broad and fragmented, spanning everything from ketchup, mayonnaise and remoulade to dressings, sauces and international flavour universes.

The challenge was to identify where Orkla should defend existing strengths, where there was room to grow, and where the category could be made more relevant through new occasions, formats, positioning and portfolio choices.

The approach

We built a comprehensive insight foundation across market, retail, shopper and consumer data.

The process combined retail safaris across Danish grocery channels, international trend analysis, quantitative category research, qualitative focus groups, in-home studies, shop-alongs, shopper data and packaging research.

This gave us a 360-degree view of the category: how condiments appear in-store, how shoppers navigate the shelf, what consumers actually keep in their kitchens, which products are used often versus rarely, what drives choice in different meal occasions, and where packaging either supports or limits everyday usage.

By combining large-scale quantitative data with ethnographic and qualitative depth, we were able to connect category dynamics with real consumer behaviour – from the shelf to the fridge to the meal itself.

The result

The work resulted in a strategic and operational decision foundation for Orkla’s future work with the condiment category.

It clarified the most important demand spaces, category roles, white spots and portfolio opportunities, and helped define where Orkla should prioritise, protect, develop or rethink its position.

The project also created a clearer understanding of how Bähncke and Beauvais can play distinct roles in the portfolio, and how packaging, retail visibility and meal relevance can become stronger levers for growth.

The outcome was a strategic roadmap for how Orkla can strengthen its position in condiments and unlock more relevant growth in a mature, everyday category.