Sauz Launches In Target With New SKU
Next-generation pasta sauce producer Sauz announced a major expansion that will bring the brand, along with a new SKU, to all 1,825 Target stores nationwide by the end of this year.
In celebration of the brand’s first expansion into mass retail, Sauz has debuted a new tomato-based sauce, Cracked Pepper Parmesan, which will be sold exclusively at Target. The retailer will also carry the brand’s Summer Lemon Marinara, Hot Honey Marinara and Creamy Calabrian Vodka flavors, which will retail for between $7.99 and $9.99, depending on the region.
“We have been iterating Cracked Pepper Parmesan for quite some time now, and pink sauce has been a common request by our consumers,” said co-founder and CMO Winston Alfieri. “As always, we continue to listen to our loyal base of consumers and Target made clear their excitement to bring the new flavor to its shoppers.”
In addition to Target, Sauz will also expand its reach in natural grocery, growing its Whole Foods footprint beyond its initial 60 SoPac stores to more than 500 locations nationwide at the start of 2025. That retail expansion will also see the release of additional exclusive flavors at the natural retailer.
“We continue to drive best-in-class velocities through fundamentally unique marketing initiatives and flavor-forward, experiential products,” said Alfieri. “Our velocities have been 40% higher than longstanding, established players in the category at Whole Foods.”
As it scales up its retail footprint, Sauz is also growing its inventory and expects to produce 250,000 jars during its next production run. That marks a significant expansion for the Palm Tree Crew- and Coefficient Capital-backed brand, which began the year in 300 retail doors and expects to reach 3,000 by the end of 2024.
In order to support its expanded retail footprint the Sauz team said it will focus on organic social, influencer marketing as well as retail media channels such as Instacart, DoorDash and others noting it has not yet leveraged these platforms to drive engagement.
The company said it will also lean heavily into driving sales on Target.com, claiming the ecommerce platform typically represents between 20% to 30% of revenue for new brands. Additionally it will put a significant focus on Instacart, noting the third party delivery platform is a large partner for Target.
Lastly, the company will tap into the physical realm via events and partnerships to “activate and engage” its community. The end goal of those activations, however, is to drive results at retail with the Sauz team saying it is focused on “retail-centric” digital campaigns that generate trial in-store.
“Launching at Target furthers our conviction that the future of our category will be driven by innovation – there is clear demand for a new generation of pasta sauce at scale,” said Alfieri.
