When you think of barbecue sauce, what brands come to mind? Sweet Baby Rays, Heinz, Kraft, and Stubbs, just to name a few. Bachan’s is a name you may or may not have heard of, but they’re a big player in the BBQ sauce game, especially on Amazon.
HINT: Bachan’s owns 22% of the bbq sauce market on Amazon!
While not the same as a traditional “American BBQ sauce,” that’s thick, sweet, and tangy, Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce is more of a savory-sweet teriyaki-ish sauce with soy, mirin, ginger, garlic, and green onion—a Japanese BBQ sauce.
Either way, Bachan’s has carved out a unique space, capturing consumers’ attention through a great brand story, unique social media and influencer marketing, and simply a great-tasting product.
This article explores Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce’s journey, exploring how the company got its start, the innovative marketing strategies that fueled its success, and how it compares to the big household BBQ sauce brands using Jungle Scout Cobalt data. (You won’t want to miss that section!)
A quick story of Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce
Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce was founded by Justin Gill in 2019, who drew inspiration from his family’s age-old recipe. The term “Bachan” is a Japanese word for grandmother, reflecting the brand’s deep cultural and familial roots.
The original recipe passed down through generations, is a testament to Gill’s family’s rich culinary heritage and meticulous craftsmanship.
Justin’s journey began in his own kitchen, where he meticulously recreated his grandmother’s sauce, aiming to share the unique flavors with the world.
Recognizing a gap in the market for authentic Japanese barbecue sauce, he decided to turn his passion into a business. Justin ensured that Bachan’s stood out from the competition by using only high-quality, fresh, non-GMO ingredients and zero preservatives.
Bachan’s growth and expansion
Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce initially gained traction through local farmers markets and specialty stores, where the unique flavor and quality quickly garnered a loyal following. However, the real turning point for the company came with its entry into the ecommerce giant, Amazon.
As you can see from the Keepa chart, within a couple of months of launching on Amazon, Bachan’s sales skyrocketed (as indicated by the green sales rank line.)
Recognizing the vast potential of online retail, Bachan’s leveraged Amazon’s marketplace to reach a wider audience. The sauce’s unique taste and commitment to quality resonated with customers, leading to a surge in sales and thousands of positive reviews.
5 key Bachan’s marketing strategies
Bachan’s success on Amazon is not merely a stroke of luck but the result of well-thought-out marketing strategies. Here are some key elements of their approach.
1. Authentic storytelling
The brand’s narrative, centered around family heritage and authentic recipes, creates a compelling story that resonates with consumers. By sharing the story of Bachan’s origins, Justin Gill connects with customers on an emotional level, fostering brand loyalty.
Their Amazon storefront, along with the A+ Content, really helps the customer understand their story and where the idea came from.
Let’s compare Bachan’s storefront to Sweet Baby Rays.
It looks good but there’s really not much to it other than showcasing their different categories of sauces. There is no brand story, no compelling infographics or imagery. Though, they do feature a recipe video further down.
Bachan’s is more aesthetically pleasing and stands out with the unique graphics and the brand story front and center. Below that, you can see the different flavors they offer with a short but informative description of each.
2. High-quality visuals
Bachan’s invests in high-quality product images, videos, and A+ Content on each Amazon listing, showcasing the sauce’s versatility and appeal. This visual storytelling helps potential customers imagine using the product in their own cooking, making the purchase decision easier.
3. Influencer partnerships
Bachan’s has amplified its reach by collaborating with food bloggers and social media influencers through user-generated content. These partnerships introduce the sauce to new audiences and provide authentic endorsements that build trust and drive sales not only through Amazon but also on their site.
4. Amazon Advertising
Bachan’s utilizes Amazon’s advertising tools to strategically
target relevant keywords and interests. Sponsored Products Ads, Sponsored Brands Ads, and even video ads help the brand stay visible and attract potential buyers who are actively searching for barbecue sauces.
5. Social media presence
Beyond Amazon, Bachan’s maintains an active presence on social media platforms, where they share recipes, cooking tips, and customer testimonials. This engagement not only drives brand awareness but also creates a community of loyal fans.
All of this hard work paid off big time. Now, Bachan’s dominates the barbecue sauce category on Amazon, surpassing the big names in BBQ, such as Sweet Baby Ray’s and Heinz.
How does Bachan’s perform on Amazon compared to other BBQ sauce brands?
Now, let’s get to the good stuff! We’ll be diving into a segment built in Jungle Scout Cobalt for the barbecue sauce category on Amazon. It will show us the top brands and their estimated revenue.
Bachan’s owns 22% of the barbecue sauce category on Amazon, more than any other brand! For a brand that launched in just 2019, that is really impressive, especially against some of these big names such as Sweet Baby Rays and G Hughes.
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Connect with our sales team to find out how Cobalt helps you achieve unbelievable results on Amazon.
While some other brands likely dominate traditional retail and grocery stores across the country, Bachan’s has a great Amazon strategy that has led them to where they are today in the marketplace.
We believe Bachan’s Amazon success is due to their use of quality social media content, such as recipe videos and influencers within the food and BBQ space, as well as how well they put together their listings and advertising campaigns—oh, and we should also give credit to their unique packaging design, which definitely helps them stand out!
Look at the engagement on this reel on Instagram! Over 94,000 likes! And hundreds of comments.
It’s worth noting that G Hughes follows a similar approach on Instagram and other social media. There is a face to the brand, and they each make a lot of great, engaging content.
It is no surprise that these two brands have the biggest market share on Amazon.
Sweet Baby Rays, on the other hand, is sort of a faceless brand. They do partner with food influencers here and there but their social media content doesn’t stand out as much.
Sorry, Sweet Baby Rays, I still love your sauces!
Has Bachan’s gained or lost market share on Amazon?
While Bachan’s is still crushing it on Amazon, they are starting to lose some market share. This could be due to increased competition, the competition upping their ad budgets or social media campaigns, and so on.
Even so, Bachan’s is still the number one best seller in the barbecue sauce category on Amazon.
Taking a look at some related keywords, we can see that “Japanese BBQ sauce” sees roughly 3,600 searches per week, and Bachan’s is the top-selling product for that keyword.
The search term “bbq sauce” obviously has more weekly searches as it is broader, but the most recent top-performing products for that keyword are 365 by Whole Foods, Kraft, and Sweet Baby Rays. So, these brands are looking to take back the number one spot!
Information like this is extremely powerful for brands to see where they stand in the market compared to their competition. For example, Bachan’s can see they’re losing market share within Jungle Scout Cobalt, which can give them a kick in the ass to make some changes in their marketing strategy or figure out ways to increase conversions.
Access your Amazon market share with Cobalt.
Connect with our sales team to find out how Cobalt helps you achieve unbelievable results on Amazon.
Losing market share or not, Bachan’s is a prime example of what every brand should be doing on Amazon: quality images, informative product videos, Amazon influencer videos, A+ Content, and a solid product to back it up, not to mention a solid social media strategy to stir up interest in the brand.
Final thoughts
Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce’s journey from a family recipe to a widely recognized brand is a testament to the power of authenticity, product quality, and strategic marketing through social media and Amazon.
Bachan’s has successfully grown into a beloved brand by staying true to its roots and effectively leveraging ecommerce platforms like Amazon. As they continue to innovate and grow, the future looks delicious for this barbecue sauce company.
Brian Connolly is an Amazon seller, ecommerce expert, and writer for Jungle Scout. He lives in the New Jersey Shore area with his wife and cat. When he isn’t writing advice online for aspiring and experienced Amazon sellers for Jungle Scout, he spends his free time boating, fishing, and selling boating-themed items on his Amazon business.
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