Which Sauce Is the Most Popular? Mayonnaise Leads Delivery Menus in 2026
First published on or before 8 June 2023. Updated October 2026 with 2026 data.
Mayonnaise is the most mentioned sauce on restaurant delivery menus in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Brazil in 2026. Brands are rarely named.
Key findings
- Mayonnaise is the most mentioned sauce on restaurant delivery menus in all four markets: 62% in the Netherlands, 55% in the UK, 48% in Germany and 23% in Brazil.
- The runner-up is local: BBQ (54%) in the UK, hot sauce (51%) in the Netherlands, ketchup (37%) in Germany, BBQ (11%) in Brazil.
- Ketchup is mostly sold unbranded: Heinz is named on 13% of UK restaurant menus that list ketchup, and on 5% in Germany.
- 86% of UK restaurant menus mention a sauce we track.
Mayonnaise is the most popular sauce on food delivery menus in 2026. It is the most mentioned sauce on restaurant delivery menus in all four markets covered: 63% of restaurant menus in the Netherlands, 55% in the United Kingdom, 48% in Germany and 23% in Brazil.
For sauce and condiment brands, that is the headline and the opportunity in one. Sauces are everywhere on delivery menus, but the brand behind them is almost never named: Heinz, the most visible sauce brand on these menus, appears on 13% of UK restaurant menus that list ketchup and on 2% to 5% elsewhere. The shelf is full; the brand slot on it is mostly empty.
Mayonnaise leads in every market, but the runner-up is local
Mayonnaise is first everywhere; what comes second tells you where you are. Across the full delivery menus of 380,000+ restaurant storefronts with a full menu (menus of mainly prepared food; supermarkets and shops excluded) in the United Kingdom, 110,000+ in Germany, 31,000+ in the Netherlands and the leading app in Brazil, the share of storefronts mentioning each sauce in an item name or description tells the story.
- United Kingdom: BBQ (54%) runs almost level with mayonnaise, followed by hot sauce (47%; chilli, peri-peri and sriracha, sweet chilli not counted). 86% of UK restaurant menus mention a sauce we track.
- Netherlands: after mayonnaise come hot sauce (51%, sweet chilli not counted) and garlic sauce (42%), with satay or peanut sauce on 28% of menus, a Dutch signature you will not find at that level anywhere else.
- Germany: ketchup is a clear second at 37%, and curry sauce or curry ketchup reaches 29%. Hollandaise and bearnaise show up on 22% of menus.
- Brazil: sauces are named far less often in menu text, with 33% of restaurant menus mentioning one, but mayonnaise still leads by a distance, ahead of BBQ at 11%. In Brazil 1.5M+ menu items mention mayonnaise, more than in the other three markets combined.
The big three: mayo beats ketchup and mustard everywhere
Ketchup is the condiment people picture, but mayonnaise is the one restaurants write on their menus. Mayonnaise beats ketchup in every market, by 27 points in the United Kingdom and 27 points in the Netherlands, and mustard trails both in every market, coming closest in Brazil, where it sits within a point of ketchup (9% against 10%).
Part of the reason is how mayonnaise travels: it is a base for garlic mayo, spicy mayo, truffle mayo and Japanese mayo, so it turns up on burgers, fries, sushi and poke bowls alike. Ketchup is more often a side, and sides are listed less often than the dish they come with.
Ketchup sells mostly without a brand name
Most ketchup on delivery menus is sold unbranded. Of the UK restaurant menus that list ketchup, 13% name Heinz on a ketchup item. In Germany the share is 5%, in Brazil 3% and in the Netherlands 2%.
Mayonnaise is even less branded. Hellmann's is named on about 1% of the Brazilian restaurant menus that mention mayonnaise, and on under 1% in the United Kingdom. On a delivery menu, "mayo" is almost always just mayo.
What changed since 2023
The 2023 edition of this article looked at different markets, and the pattern has held: mayonnaise wins where people eat out. The 2023 edition covered the United States, Australia, South Africa and Singapore. Mayonnaise led in three of the four (25% of storefronts in Australia, 27% in South Africa, 7% in Singapore) and mustard led in the United States at 30%. In 2026 mayonnaise leads in all four markets covered.
Branded ketchup tells a similar story. In 2023 Heinz reached 26% of US storefronts selling ketchup, 18% in Australia, 14% in Singapore and under 1% in South Africa. The 2026 UK figure of 13% sits in the same range as Singapore three years ago; Germany, Brazil and the Netherlands sit well below it. Because the markets differ, read these side by side rather than as growth.
Why this matters now
Delivery menus are where sauce choices are written down and compared. A restaurant that lists "burger with mayo" is telling every customer, and every competitor, which condiment it serves. That makes menus the most direct public record of which sauces restaurants buy, market by market, and it moves every month as menus are rewritten.
What sauce and condiment brands should do
- Lead with mayonnaise-based sauces. Garlic mayo, spicy mayo and flavoured mayo travel across cuisines; they are the widest door onto delivery menus in all four markets.
- Play the local runner-up. BBQ and hot sauce in the UK, satay and garlic sauce in the Netherlands, curry ketchup and hollandaise in Germany: each market has a second sauce worth owning.
- Win the name on the menu. With only 13% of UK ketchup menus naming Heinz, and far fewer elsewhere, a named sauce on a menu is a real point of difference. Target the restaurants that already list your sauce type and help them say whose it is.
- Track it monthly. Menu mentions shift as menus are rewritten; a monthly read shows where your sauce is gaining and where a rival is.
See which restaurants list your sauce
Dashmote reads full delivery menus for every restaurant storefront in the market, so you can see which outlets list your sauce, which list a rival's, and which list none by name. Get in touch to see the restaurants in your market that are ready for your brand.
