From Ryan via Ezra Klein comes and IBIS World report of the 10 fastest-growing industries in the United States. Some make sense, some are kind of silly, others are kind of depressing, one of them both speaks well and bodes well for all of us:

McIlhenny, you may know, is the Major Industry Player responsible for Tabasco products. Reckitt Benckiser, it turns out, is responsible for a bunch of household cleaning products, French’s mustard and — relevant here — Frank’s Red Hot.

The report suggests the hot sauce industry “has heated up” due to:

demographic consumption trends, immigration and international demand from Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. As Americans’ palates have become more diverse, hot sauce has earned tenure on the dinner table. Demand from supermarkets and grocery stores has reflected the change in consumer taste, and food retailers are dedicating more shelf space to ethnic cuisine…. Hot sauce production isn’t expected to burn out any time soon.

Good case for serial commas in that excerpt. The way it is, it sounds like the increase in hot sauce consumption is in part due to a bunch of Canadian, British and Japanese people moving here and enjoying tons of hot sauce. And hey, maybe that happens. Who could blame them really?

I, for one, would welcome an economy based on hot sauce and self-tanner. Everything and everybody would have a delightful orange hue. And our stomachs will be strong inside and out, from all the spicy food and pilates. Maybe the future doesn’t suck so hard after all.

For what it’s worth, I’m currently keeping four hot sauces at TedQuarters: Frank’s, sriracha, Cholula, and the one I made myself. Also, I found it way easier to mention my love of Cholula on this site before they became an SNY sponsor, but it really is good.