Heinz gives ketchup packets a new look
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years -- and complaints about it have been heard for nearly as long: too messy, too small, too hard to open.
Now, ketchup giant H.J. Heinz Co. is unveiling the first major packaging change to the to-go condiment.
The new design has a base that's more like a cup for dipping and a tear-off end for squeezing. It also holds three times as much ketchup than a traditional packet.
"The packet has long been the bane of our consumers," said Dave Ciesinski, vice president of Heinz Ketchup. "The biggest complaint is there is no way to dip and eat it on the go."
Heinz has long struggled to find a design that lets diners dip or squeeze ketchup that could also be sold at a price acceptable to its restaurant customers. For this effort, it bought its design team a used minivan two years ago to test whether their ideas really worked while eating on the road.
Heinz sells more than 11 million cases of its ketchup packets in the U.S. every year, and it will continue to sell the traditional packet. The new packet is in test markets in the Midwest and Southeast and will roll out at select fast-food restaurants in the fall.
Heinz is still working out prices with customers but said packets will cost a little more than regular packets.
Will they catch on? It's hard to tell, but the news may cheer ketchup fans such as Matt Kurtz, a 22-year-old student who finds the problems are as ubiquitous as the packets themselves.
The self-proclaimed ketchup aficionado became so annoyed two years ago after spilling ketchup on his jeans while on a road trip that he started one of hundreds of anti-ketchup packet groups on Facebook. He dubbed it "Prop 57" as a gentle poke at Heinz, saying it is to "draw awareness" to the packets' shortcomings.
"I said, 'There has to be a better way'," he said.
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: In this product image provided by H.J. Heinz Co., the new Dip & Squeeze Heinz Tomato Ketchup package is shown.
Search News-Record.com
closeSearch News & Record Article Archives
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.
