Ketchup is no longer a dessert

Olga Romashchenko — Chief Marketing Officer Olena Serdiuk — Brand Manager TM Pripravka Tetiana Khrystych — Head of R&D Department

Background / Problem After a challenging yet impressive 2022, Pripravka faced new wartime realities: the vital need to relocate production, rebuild supply chains, deal with a shrinking population, and a noticeable drop in the natural spices category — the company’s core business. These shifts demanded bold decisions to maintain business continuity. Since Pripravka had already succeeded in launching products in the sauces category, the company chose to diversify further and introduce a new line of ketchups to the Ukrainian market. But the ketchup market is fiercely competitive, dominated by two major players holding nearly 80% of the shelf space. The rest of the field competes mostly on price. To break through, we had to offer something radically NEW to capture consumers’ attention. Insight The healthy eating trend has long been rooted in the minds of Ukrainians — and, as it turns out, among ketchup lovers too. Among surveyed ketchup fans aged 25–40, 57% try to reduce sugar in their diets intuitively, and 10% actively monitor and aim to minimise their sugar intake. Yet, the ketchup category does nothing to support that need. A single tablespoon of standard ketchup contains nearly a teaspoon of sugar — about 4 grams. This means a 250g bottle can hold 20–26% sugar. That’s A LOT. Strategy Healthy or “diet” products often carry the stigma of being less tasty. Consumers still lean toward familiar flavours. So our strategy was simple yet bold: Deliver the same sweet-and-tangy ketchup taste people love — but make it better for them. We reduced added sugar and replaced it with stevia. That’s how PRIPRAVKA ketchups with 42% less sugar were born. Why 42%? Due to Ukrainian and EU regulations, we can’t compare our product to competitors in communications — even though we did our research. Instead, we compared the new recipes to our own B2B ketchup formulation, which uses a category-standard sugar level. That’s how we landed on the magical 42%. This approach follows global industry standards — and it became our key market differentiator, prominently featured on our labels and in all communications. Creative To draw attention to something as unexpected as sugar levels in ketchup — we needed a provocation. We realized: with that much added sugar, most ketchups could easily qualify as desserts. But not PRIPRAVKA. With 42% less sugar, it’s clear that: “Ketchup is no longer a dessert.” This bold message came to life in two ad spots that formed the core of our campaign. The characters from these videos also became the faces of a banner series that took over digital spaces across Ukraine. Results After the media campaign and first-half sales in 2024, we achieved: Audience reach: 95% — 12.8 million people (+29% vs. plan) Brand awareness for Pripravka ketchups: 23% (vs. planned 15%) Sauces share of company’s gross profit: grew from 6.3% to 16.6%, offsetting spice category losses and boosting business resilience.