Italian Marinade, I see you. 🌶️🇮🇹

Well… this wasn’t on my bingo card for the week.

Italian Marinade (for one small event, at least) has overtaken Original Chilli Relish as my best-selling spicy preserve.

Original Chilli has basically been the boss of the range since the outset. The core “this is what I'm known for” product.

And then Italian Marinade just crept past it with its consistent “yep, I’m here and people seem to really like me actually” energy. It was within one jar of Original Chilli sales last Saturday at Mauchline Holy Fair, and comfortably outsold it yesterday.

It's not hugely surprising. Tastes are gradually changing.  I listened to customers when they were looking for something less sweet, and more products they can use to cook with.  

Italian Marinade has been one of my fastest selling limited edition flavours, and you've been loving it since I first made it in 2022. It was initially made as a one off (when I either miss-ordered ingredients, or ran out of tomatoes for Original Chilli ... its actual origins are lost in the annals of my HACCP records). Red peppers, garlic, lemon, barbecue herbs, and a bite from scotch bonnets. It's such a good product that last year it entered the core range. Got its own label and everything!

It's brilliantly versatile too...
stirred into pasta
used as a quick sauce base
bunged on everything at a BBQ
as a relish with a cheeseboard
used to marinade chicken or even halloumi

Original Chilli isn’t going anywhere though.  To be clear, your go-to chilli jam absolutely hasn’t fallen off a cliff or anything.  It’s still very much doing its thing and being my all-rounder hero product.

But now we have a bit of a situation at the top of the league table because apparently Italian Marinade has decided it’s 'having a moment' as the young'uns say.

Is this a blip? A seasonal swing? A long-term shift?

My gut (or rather, my 16+ years of chilli jam experience) says that you lot want more of This Sort Of Thing and so be it. There are already a few kindred jars in the lineup at the moment, and I'm watching their performance.

It’s just fun watching your 'new' products steadily start to steal the spotlight from the incumbent.

Anyway, small milestone, but a good one.

Italian Marinade, I see you.