More Than One in Ten Canadian Grillers (15%) Have a Secret Sauce Recipe They’ll Never Share

Toronto, ON – As the weather heats up, so do the barbecues. A new Ipsos poll for Sabra finds that one in ten Canadians (13%) – or 15% of Canadians who barbecue – have a secret go-to barbecue sauce that they won’t share with anyone. Meanwhile, two in ten Canadians who barbecue (25%) have a not-so-secret go-to sauce, with a recipe that they have shared with others. Conversely, six in ten Canadian grillers (60%) do not currently have a secret sauce recipe. Only one in ten Canadians (10%) say they don’t barbecue at all.

Some Grillers Less Likely to Share Their Secrets

With the barbecue season quickly approaching, the most ambitious grillers may be inclined to keep their sauce recipe under wraps; however, some are more willing than others to share their secrets. The survey finds that among those who barbecue, men (18%) are more likely than women (11%) to keep their barbecue sauce recipe to themselves, while women (29%) are more likely than men (21%) to share their recipes.

The poll also found that Millennials (52%) are more likely than both Gen X’ers (43%) and Baby Boomers (27%) to have a secret sauce that makes their summer barbecues a success. Among Millennials, three in ten (29%) say they’ve shared their go-to sauce recipe with others, while one in four (24%) are keeping it to themselves. Similarly, nearly three in ten (28%) Gen X’ers say they have shared their sauce recipe, while about one in ten (15%) are not willing to give out the recipe. Two in ten (20%) Canadians aged 55 and over say they have shared their go-to barbecue recipes with others, while just 7% say they would never share their secret sauce recipe.

Among those who barbecue, parents are more likely than Canadians without kids to have a go-to summer barbecue recipe (55% vs 34%). Of those parents, one in three (34%) are open to sharing their sauce mixtures, while two in ten parents (21%) say their special barbecue recipe is not to be shared. Canadians without kids are also more likely to share than not: as two in ten (22%) say they would share their the recipe for their go-to sauce, while just one in ten (12%) say their sauces are a well-kept secret.

Prairie Residents are the Pitmasters

Grillers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (51%) are most likely to have a secret sauce for barbecue season, followed by British Columbians (45%), Ontarians (39%), Atlantic Canadians (39%), Albertans (38%), and Quebecers (36%). At the same time, Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents are more likely than residents of any other province to keep their sauce a secret: one in four (26%) say they would never share their recipes, compared to residents of Alberta (15%), Atlantic Canada (15%), Ontario (14%), Quebec (14%), and BC (12%).

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The ABCs of BBQ

Canadians have a wide variety of opinions when it comes to describing the ideal barbecue sauce. The Ipsos poll reveals that heat and sweet are tied in terms of popularity: for some, the ultimate sauce for summer barbecues should have a combination of sweet and sour (37%), while others prefer kick of heat (36%). Nearly one in four (23%) of Canadians say it shouldn’t be too sweet, while 22% say the ultimate summer barbecue sauce should have ingredients that their guests can’t pinpoint. One in ten Canadians (12%) say the ultimate summer sauce should have exotic or tropical ingredients.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 2 and May 5, 2017 on behalf of Sabra. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President, Canada
Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With offices in 88 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management. Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.