Unilever Food Solutions innovation disrupts €4.2bn China soy sauce market

Dark. Light. Sweet. Seasoned. 

There are many types of soy sauce used in China, but until recently there were nearly none made specifically for professional chefs. 

Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) has filled this gap with a professional-grade premium product that offers the richer umami and a more pronounced soy flavour 63% of chefs in China said they needed.[a] 

Launched in China in March 2024, Knorr Professional Seasoned Soy Sauce has already set a UFS performance record for an innovation launch. 

What’s the secret? 

Valued at about €4.2 billion, the soy sauce market in China is huge but also, unsurprisingly, mature, with consistent demand driven by its everyday use. 

However, the fact that 99% of soy sauce brands in China offer the same product for domestic and professional use presented UFS with an opportunity to step into a valuable white space with a whole new proposition.[b] 

“Our chefs-for-chefs business approach provides unique insight into what our customers were looking for,” says Joyce Zhou, UFS North Asia Lead, explaining that chefs were voicing a need for a premium soy sauce that would deliver the strong umami taste needed to enhance top dishes and generate consumer appeal. 

“This demand from chefs offered us an opportunity to disrupt the highly competitive soy sauce market with a product that answered the needs of professional kitchens.” 

Harnessing science and tradition to create premium products 

Acting on this customer insight, our UFS R&D team created a new soy sauce with a unique flavour profile by combining traditional and modern fermentation processes with breakthrough science and technology capabilities. This preserves the authentic taste of traditional soy sauce while also ensuring the stability and high efficiency required by professional kitchens. 

“Thanks to our magical blend of yellow and black soybeans and perfect fermentation conditions, we created a soy sauce that enchants chefs with a richer aroma and double umami flavour that chefs missed in other product alternatives,” says Hanny van Amerongen, VP, R&D Global Innovation, Foods and UFS. 

“Our new recipe allows us to produce large volumes without losing the magic of quality and taste. This breakthrough is setting a new standard in professional soy sauce.” 

A blueprint for success 

With China a priority growth market for Unilever, this launch reflects UFS’s commitment to responding to market needs with market-specific innovation. 

And it has provided a blueprint that is set to be repeated in other UFS markets. Plans to roll out this product to meet local tastes in other markets are underway. 

“Launching a premium product like this is a strategic move to capture higher-value share in a competitive category across multiple markets,” says Hanny. 

“It positions Knorr Professional not just as a pantry staple but also as a culinary partner for professional chefs, which supports long-term loyalty and brand equity.”  

[a] UFS China Soy Sauce Concept Test Survey, March 2021, China Chef Panel. 

[b] UFS China Soy Sauce Innovation Strategy Study, Jan-Aug 2022, Creo Innovation.