The answer to the perennial question of what sauce van drivers prefer on their bacon sandwich has finally been answered: brown sauce is the most popular, but only just.
A ‘crowd-saucing’ campaign by Fiat Professional, surveying hundreds of van drivers, found that 40% of van drivers said brown sauce was their condiment of choice, while 37.5% rated tomato sauce as their favourite. The remaining 22.5% said they prefer their sandwich un-sauced.
But younger drivers relish the red stuff, with ketchup streaking ahead among those under the age of 30; 48% of those under 30 said red was best, with only 30% favouring the fruity alternative.
The no-sauce option was more popular among female drivers, with 30% saying they liked their bacon without compared to just 19% of male drivers. Of female van drivers surveyed, 36% preferred brown sauce and 34% preferred red.
Richard Chamberlain, country manager from Fiat Professional said: “Many van drivers like to start their day with a traditional bacon butty, so we’ve made life easier for the transport cafes and roadside traders that fuel the nation’s tradespeople by finding an answer to a question that has divided the nation for years.
“Brown sauce is king, but only by the smallest of margins – though with younger drivers favouring red, it could be that the bottle gets tipped the other way in the not-too-distant future.”