Encona celebrates 50th birthday with limited-edition anniversary bottles
Grace Foods UK is celebrating the 50th birthday of its iconic hot sauce brand, Encona, with the launch of limited-edition anniversary branding that will be rolled out across its whole range.
The branding will pay homage to the legendary hot sauce brand with limited-edition 50th anniversary emblemed signature packaging and will be available to buy in all major supermarket groups and convenience stores.
The UK’s number one supplier of Caribbean food and drink (source: Circana – UK Caribbean Food & Drink, Retail Sales – Period: MAT 22 March 2025) said as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Grace Foods UK has shopper activations in Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and independent stores across the UK.
Kimberley Lue Lim, head of marketing for Grace Foods UK, said: “Encona is still the UK’s best-loved hot pepper sauce, we are very proud of that, and we are keen to pull out all the stops to celebrate this momentous occasion. From the early days of the launch in London in 1975 of the first Encona sauce – the West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce – to 2025 where we now offer a range of fantastic sauces and chilli jams made with inspiration from not only the Caribbean but also from India, the Far East and the USA.
“Our trade activity, which includes in-store shopper activations with Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and independents across the UK, will be a key part of our 50th anniversary campaign. For customers who aren’t aware of Encona’s 50-year legacy and its Caribbean heritage, the anniversary celebrations will raise awareness of the fact that Encona is the original hot sauce in the UK market.”
There are also some consumer activities planned including a partnership with Time Out London for Hot Sauce Summer.
Encona will also be partnering with Great British Chefs, which will see the creation of five recipes – one for each decade of bold Encona flavour. Journalist and food writer Melissa Thompson has written a Love Letter to Encona in which she talks about her lifetime connection with the hot sauce brand as part of the campaign, while the Great British Chefs Kitchen in-house recipe development team have created the Encona-inspired recipes.
Since its launch in 1975, Encona has become a firm favourite with many celebrities. While the popular ’80s Trinidadian actor Rudolph Walker (Love Thy Neighbour, The Thin Blue Line, EastEnders) added some celebrity sparkle to the launch of Encona in supermarket stores in the 1980s, a number of well-known personalities have publicly declared their love for the sauce. These include Naomi Campbell, Alesha Dixon, Gordon Ramsey, Rylan Clark, Jade Thirlwall and Romesh Ranganathan. A bottle of Encona was even used by then Prime Minister David Cameron to spice up his sardines on toast in the Downing Street kitchen in a TV show following a day in his life in 2015.
