The Entrepreneur Weekly turns up the heat on Jamaica’s condiments and sauces market and the opportunities simmering within it. According to Colin Porter, Manager of Technical Services at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) Incubator & Resource Centre (IRC), the category is moving beyond the expected.
“Everybody was doing jerk sauce and pineapple flavoured pepper sauce and so on. Now people are going into different types of stuff,” Porter explained.
One example? Pumpkin ketchup. Yes, pumpkin ketchup!
For Porter, it reflects a broader shift happening in the market, one where agro-processors are becoming more willing to experiment with local ingredients and create products that stand apart.
“We’re seeing things like pumpkin ketchup. Different things like that. People trying to create some unique stuff from what it is that we already have here in terms of raw material inputs,” he said.
And consumers are responding.
“I think because the market in the past has been kind of saturated with the sameness. Then when something new comes on, the response is always positive,” Porter noted.
That appetite for innovation is creating room for a new generation of agro-processors, particularly those thinking beyond taste alone.
Healthy No Longer Means Bland
Porter believes one of the strongest opportunities lies in products designed for modern lifestyles. “My favourite thing would be vegan-friendly and diabetic-friendly and all the other kinds of health-friendly variations of stuff,” he shared.
For entrepreneurs, that means opportunity in creating condiments that meet changing consumer expectations without sacrificing flavour. “A lot of people are going down that road. Doctors say you have to put up with this, but you want the taste, you want the experience,” Porter said. “Years ago, eating healthy meant eating bland. Healthy is about pushing the box, pushing the envelope, looking nice, looking appetising.”
Still, having a great sauce recipe is only one part of the equation. Moving from kitchen production to commercial shelves requires technical support, compliance and refinement. That is where the JBDC’s Agro-Processing Incubator comes in.
“If you don’t have your own facility, as usual, we invite you to use the agro incubator,” Porter explained. The support goes beyond simply renting production space. If you have a product or even just a concept, the technical team evaluates the product formulation, consistency and commercial readiness, while design specialists assess packaging and market appeal. From there, clients may receive support with product reformulation, if necessary, label development, regulatory compliance guidance, costing & pricing support, supplier sourcing and production planning.
The incubator has supported a wide range of condiment and sauce producers, from traditional jerk-based products to more niche innovations.
One standout, Porter notes, is Chrishauna’s Sweet & Spicy Cheese Sauce, a versatile all-purpose product with a cheesy base designed to work across multiple uses, from condiment and dip to spread and dressing, rather than requiring a different sauce for every occasion. The product’s formulation and production were supported by the JBDC technical team.
Traditional favourites still hold their place, of course. Jerk sauce remains iconic, though Porter believes innovation within the category still has room to grow. “The thing with jerk sauce is always, if you change it so much, is it still jerk sauce?” he joked.
But perhaps that tension between preserving tradition and embracing innovation is exactly what makes Jamaica’s food so good.
JBDC’s Agro-processing Incubator is an opportunity to move that kitchen experiment into a business, because sometimes the next big business idea starts with what is already simmering in the pot. Located at 76 Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston, you can rent the space at https://www.jbdc.net/services/incubators/.
Additionally, the JBDC recently launched the Strengthening the Competitiveness and Resilience of MSMEs in Jamaica’s Agro-Industrial Value Chains project managed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and sponsored by Japan. Through this collaboration, selected enterprises will receive capacity building support focused on technology transfer which will introduce modern technologies that enhance production and processing capabilities, as well as technical capacity development through training, knowledge sharing, and tailored advisory services designed to improve productivity, product quality, and market readiness. Applications are open until June 15, 2026 at: https://www.jbdc.net/services/projects/.
