Heinz Ketchup has become ubiquitous since hitting the market in 1876. And when you've been making perfect ketchup for over 140 years, there's bound to be some rather juicy secrets and strange facts out there, right? Here's everything you don't know about your favorite ketchup.
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00:00Heinz ketchup has become ubiquitous since hitting the market in 1876.
00:05And when you've been making perfect ketchup for over 140 years, there's bound to be some
00:10rather juicy secrets and strange facts out there, right? Here's everything you don't know
00:14about your favorite ketchup. Based on the 57 Variety slogan on Heinz ketchup bottles,
00:20you might think you have 57 different types of ketchup to choose from.
00:24But you'd be wrong about that. Truth be told, it's a completely arbitrary number.
00:29It was chosen by Henry Heinz in 1896, 20 years after he first started selling his
00:34legendary ketchup. By then, his company was selling over 60 products, including pickles,
00:40olive oil, spaghetti, and peanut butter. One day, as Heinz rode a train through New York,
00:44he noticed a sign that advertised 21 varieties of shoes.
00:49And it stuck with him, a number that could represent,
00:51that would stick in the American mind and would say something about his product.
00:55Does it seem like your Heinz ketchup takes an excruciatingly long time to
00:59go from bottle to hot dog? Maybe you've been pouring ketchup wrong your entire life.
01:04What's Ernest doing now? He's waiting for the ketchup. He's what? Hey, we don't wait for
01:09ketchup. You don't? Hope you and your ketchup have a real nice time.
01:14According to Live Science, you need to gently coax your ketchup out of the bottle. First,
01:19shake it to distribute the solid particles and ensure an even flow.
01:22While the cap is still on, turn the bottle upside down. Finally, tilt it to a 45-degree angle,
01:28uncap, and give the bottom a few firm taps. Trust us on this one.
01:33Their ketchup's coming out a lot slower than ours does. That's not good manners.
01:40Heinz accounts for around 50 percent of all the ketchup in American kitchens.
01:45Each year, 650 million bottles of Heinz ketchup are sold in 140 countries worldwide.
01:51That's 1,000 bottles a minute, and it results in over $1.5 billion in annual sales.
01:58Then there's the single-serve packets. The company sells 11 billion packets each year,
02:03which works out to two packets for every person on the planet.
02:07Of course, making all this ketchup requires a whole lot of tomatoes.
02:10Heinz uses over two million tons of tomatoes each year,
02:14making them the biggest buyer of tomatoes in the whole wide world.
02:17In fact, if you put all of Heinz tomato processing trucks end-to-end,
02:21the line would stretch almost 900 miles.
02:25Heinz caused quite a stir in April 2018 with one little tweet.
02:29Want mayo chup in stores? 500,000 votes for yes, and we'll release it to you, saucy Americans!
02:35The tweet sent shockwaves through numerous local news outlets,
02:39on what we're presuming was an extremely slow news day.
02:42I actually like having ketchup and mayonnaise, and even mustard.
02:45Separate?
02:46Yes. And if it gets mixed together, like, oh yummy goodness. But I don't feel like I need it.
02:50You need it.
02:51As you probably know, Ed Sheeran has a lot of tattoos. And if you look closely,
02:56you'll see a familiar ketchup label on his left bicep. Yes, the singer loves Heinz that much.
03:02He even brings his own stash of Heinz ketchup while he's on tour.
03:05A source told The Sun that,
03:06"[Ed's made no secret of his Heinz ketchup obsession,
03:09and has run out of patience with going to places that don't serve it while he's touring.
03:13He's made it a duty of key members of his entourage to carry a bottle wherever he
03:18goes so he can have it with everything from his morning sausage buddy to upmarket dinners."
03:23Sheeran is, in fact, so obsessed with Heinz that he even starred in a commercial for the product.
03:28It was an idea I had for an advert,
03:30and now we're making the advert. This is the first time I've done a condiment."
03:34Seeing an opportunity here, a gelato shop in Ireland decided to create a ketchup-infused treat
03:40in honor of Sheeran as he was gearing up for a concert nearby. The shop even offered a freebie
03:45to concertgoers, writing on Instagram,
03:47"[We decided to welcome Ed Sheeran back to Ireland by creating his favorite flavor,
03:51tomato ketchup. Drop in for a free ketchup cone if attending the concert."
03:56The gelato was made with real ketchup and even topped with a drizzle for good measure.
04:00We'll take an extremely hard pass, but then again, we're not Ed Sheeran.
04:06In just about any fast food restaurant, you're likely to see plenty of packets of Heinz,
04:10with one glaring omission — McDonald's. In 2013, McDonald's announced it would be
04:16cutting ties with Heinz as their ketchup provider, ending a decades-long relationship.
04:21The fast food chain whipped up the following prepared statement for The Huffington Post,
04:26We value the relationship we've maintained with Heinz for more than 40 years.
04:30As a result of recent management changes at Heinz,
04:33we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time."
04:37Hard to say what management changes they're referring to, but we have some ideas.
04:42Turns out that the former, the guy who became CEO of Heinz used to be the CEO of Burger King."
04:48Meanwhile, not many folks give a flying french fry about any of this.
04:52Nice. It made no difference to me. I still go to McDonald's.
04:56Nothing ain't changed. The burgers ain't changed. The fries ain't changed. So,
04:59I'm just going to stick at it.