The
H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as
Heinz and famous for its "
57 VarietiesHeinz 57 is a shortened, popular form of the "57 Varieties" slogan ofPittsburgh's H. J. Heinz Company. In its early days, the company wanted to advertise the great number of choices of canned and bottled foods it offered for sale. Although the company had more than 60 products in 1892, the number...
" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in
Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
Perhaps best known for its
ketchupHeinz Tomato Ketchup is a brand of ketchup produced by the H. J. Heinz Company. It is the largest and fastest-selling product the company has ever distributed.First introduced in 1876, it remains one of the best selling brands of ketchup...
, the H.J. Heinz Company manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continents and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories. Heinz ranked first in ketchup in the United States with a market share in excess of 50%. Moreover, its
Ore-IdaOre-Ida is a brand of potato-based frozen foods currently produced and distributed by the H. J. Heinz Company. Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in Ontario, Oregon, and the company employs over 1,000 local residents...
label held more than 50% of the frozen-potato sector. Overall, the company claims to have 150 number one or number two brands worldwide.
Background
Henry John Heinz learned from his parent's ideas, making him a progressive businessman. He believed in fairness in business, saying, "Deal with the seller so justly that he will want to sell to you again".
Australia
Heinz Australia's head office is located in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Products include
tinned baked beansHeinz Baked Beanz are a brand of baked beans produced by the H.J. Heinz Company, and sold in the United Kingdom and other countries. Heinz Beanz were launched in 1886 as "Heinz Baked Beans" and were made in Canada until 1928, when the production began in the United Kingdom.-Milestones:* 1886: Heinz...
in tomato sauce (popularized in the "beanz meanz Heinz" advertising campaign), spaghetti in a similar sauce, and canned soup, condensed soup, and "ready to eat" soups.
Heinz manufactures 'Big Red' tomato sauce, and a number of flavored baked bean varieties, as well as canned meals. Not all products are produced in Australia, products such as Heinz ready to eat microwave bowl soups are imported into Australia. Heinz also markets the
Wattie'sWattie's or Heinz Wattie's Limited is a New Zealand-based food producer of frozen and packaged fruit, vegetables, sauces, baby food, cooking sauces, dressings and pet foods....
brand of canned foods, which are made in
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
On October 6, 2008, Heinz announced plans to acquire Golden Circle which "manufactures more than 500 products, including canned fruit and vegetables, fruit juices, drinks, cordials and jams."
On May 27, 2011, Heinz announced it would close its factory in Girgarre and downsize its factories in
NorthgateNorthgate is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 9 km north of the Brisbane CBD. The land area comprises industrial and residential areas...
(Brisbane), and Wagga Wagga, with loss of more than 300 jobs. Heinz has other factories in Echuca and Mill Park.
Philippines
In the Philippines, Heinz was distributed by NutriAsia.
As of March 2006, Heinz and NutriAsia have ended their joint-venture partnership and Heinz products are now distributed by Getz Bros.
The Heinz logo can be seen in
McDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
ketchup sachets.
Canada
Heinz was established in Canada in 1909 in a former tobacco factory in
Leamington, OntarioLeamington is a municipality in Essex County, southern Ontario, Canada, and has a population of 31,113. It includes Point Pelee, the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It has a large H. J. Heinz Company factory and is known as the "Tomato Capital of Canada", with 4 km² of this crop in the...
(Tomato Capital of Canada). Most products shipped from Leamington have English and French labels for distribution throughout Canada but a substantial amount of product is sent to the United States. Ketchup is the main product produced there but the factory also produces Canada Fancy (Grade A) tomato juice, mustard, vinegar, pickles, baby food, BBQ sauces, canned pastas, beans, pasta sauces, gravies and soups. Heinz Canada is also the major supplier of single serving and flexible packaging condiments for most fast food chains in Canada. Leamington is the largest tomato processing region per acreage in the world. The Leamington plant usually processes more than 250,000 tons of tomatoes per year. With its unique combination of climate and rich soil, Leamington is one of the best areas for growing vegetables in the world. Heinz Canada's head office is in
North York, OntarioNorth York is a dissolved municipality within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the central part of the northern section of Toronto. As of the 2006 Census, it has a population of 635,370. The official 2001 census count was 608,288...
and it also has operations in
St. Marys, OntarioSt. Marys is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Thames River southwest of Stratford in Perth County, and surrounded by the Township of Perth South. The town is also known by its nickname, "The Stone Town", due to the abundance of limestone in the surrounding area, giving...
; Calgary, Alberta; and Montreal, Quebec.
India
Heinz Ketchup is available in glass bottles in India with two varieties, one is the normal Heinz Ketchup, and one is an alternative which does not contain any traces of garlic or onion, two vital ingredients in the original ketchup. This is due to the large number of Indians who refrain from eating garlic and onion for religious and cultural reasons.
Indian taste preferences vary from region to region, making it necessary for Western brands like Heinz to work on Indian interpretations of ketchups for sale in the country.
Heinz has acquired the former foods division of Glaxo India and gained the Complan, Glucon D, Glucon C, Sampriti
GheeGhee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
, and Nycil products and brands.
Netherlands
Heinz sells many products in the Netherlands, the
ElstElst is a town in the municipality of Overbetuwe in the Dutch province of Gelderland. Elst is situated in the Betuwe, between the cities of Nijmegen and Arnhem. Elst has 19,743 inhabitants....
factory is the primary production facility for Heinz sauces for Western Europe. In 2006, production of HP Sauce and Daddies was transferred from Birmingham, UK to Elst as a result of the acquisition of HP Foods and the subsequent closure of the Aston factory. Subsequently, Heinz suffered severe supply issues for the ex-HP Foods brands as the Elst factory struggled to integrate production, resulting in significant negative coverage from UK retailers. Heinz was forced to begin bottling sauce in Spain, having shipped ready-made sauce from Holland to get product back into supply.
United Kingdom
Heinz is the leading seller of baked beans in the UK, with its beans product lines referred to as
Heinz Baked BeanzHeinz Baked Beanz are a brand of baked beans produced by the H.J. Heinz Company, and sold in the United Kingdom and other countries. Heinz Beanz were launched in 1886 as "Heinz Baked Beans" and were made in Canada until 1928, when the production began in the United Kingdom.-Milestones:* 1886: Heinz...
.
The UK headquarters is in
HayesHayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added in order to house factory workers...
,
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. After opening its first overseas office in London in 1896, the company opened its first UK factory in
PeckhamPeckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, south London in 1905. This was followed by a second factory at
HarlesdenHarlesden is an area in the London Borough of Brent, northwest London, UK. Its main focal point is the Jubilee Clock which commemorates Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee....
, north-west London in 1919. Production was started at a former munitions factory at Standish near Wigan in 1946 before the new factory at Kitt Green
WiganWigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
opened in 1959. Heinz also has an infant food factory in
KendalKendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
, Cumbria. The site specializes in baby milks, previously under the brand of
Farley'sFarley's was a British food manufacturing company, best known for the baby product Farley's Rusks but also for baby rice, cereals and breadsticks....
, but now manufactures under the name Heinz Nurture. It currently has around 200 employees.
The 1970s television comedy series
The GoodiesThe Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
spoofed the Heinz baked beans adverts.
Tim Brooke-TaylorTimothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...
played the star of the advert, but was unable to get the poem used in the advert right.
In 2001, the
Food Standards AgencyThe Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
of the Government of the United Kingdom found Heinz canned baked beans products to be contaminated with the hormone disruptor
bisphenolBisphenol A is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, along with other applications....
.
In June 2009, a company PR stunt announced they had introduced the
prototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
of the world's smallest, portable microwave, the "Beanzawave". The microwave would be targeted at office workers and students and can be powered by a computer via a USB port. The size of the microwave is good for heating up coffee or tea or small items. It is also good for heating up Heinz's hot snack line, Snap Pots, for which it was created. The prototype was designed by microwave expert, Gordon Andrews and industrial designer, Stephen Frazer.
United States
Heinz is headquartered in
Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, where the company has been located since 1890, and the company's "keystone" logo is based on that of
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the "
keystoneA keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
state". However, a majority of its ketchup is produced at a factory in
Fremont, OhioFremont Public Schools enroll 4,450 students in public primary and secondary schools. The district administers 9 public schools including seven elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, Fremont Ross. In addition, the city is home to one private catholic high school, Saint Joseph...
.
Heinz FieldHeinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...
, home to the
Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, was named after the Heinz company in 2001. Heinz opened a pickle factory in
Holland, MichiganHolland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
, in 1897; it is the largest such facility in the world.
Heinz also has factories in Cedar Rapids, IA; Fort Myers, FL; Massillon, OH; Pocatello, ID; Ontario, OR; Florence, SC; Mason, OH; Jacksonville, FL; Irvine, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Escalon, CA; San Diego, CA; Muscatine, IA; Kent, WA; Chatsworth, CA; Le Center, MN; Newburyport, MA.
Brands
- ABC
- Bagel Bites
Bagel Bites are a snack type pizza bagel.-History:Bagel Bites were invented by Stanley Garczynski and Bob Mosher, both of Fort Myers, Florida, and then later sold to a major food producer. It is currently owned by Heinz via the Ore-ida brand....
- Complan
Complan Foods is a British company that makes powdered milk energy drinks. It was acquired by Danone in 2011. In India the Complan brand is owned by the H. J. Heinz Company.-History:...
- Daddies
Daddies is a brand of ketchup and brown sauce in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The brown sauce is similar to HP Sauce, but without tamarind, without tomatoes and with less malt vinegar but more spirit vinegar.-History:...
- Farex
Farex is a food for babies and infants made primarily from flour and enriched with vitamins. It was produced by the company Glaxo....
- Greenseas
Greenseas is a brand of shelf-stable fish products owned by the H. J. Heinz Company. They produce a range of popular goods, including tuna, salmon and sardines....
- HP Sauce
HP Sauce is a popular brown sauce originally produced by HP Foods in the UK, now produced by H.J. Heinz in the Netherlands.It is the best-known brand of brown sauce in the United Kingdom and Canada as well as the best selling, with 71% of the UK market....
- Lea & Perrins
Lea & Perrins is a United Kingdom based food division of the H.J. Heinz Company, originating in Worcester, England, with a subsidiary in the United States which manufactures Lea & Perrins in New Jersey...
- Ore-Ida
Ore-Ida is a brand of potato-based frozen foods currently produced and distributed by the H. J. Heinz Company. Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in Ontario, Oregon, and the company employs over 1,000 local residents...
- Tater Tots
Tater Tots, a registered trademark for a commercial form of hash browns made by Ore-Ida, are a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated taters. Tater Tots are widely recognized by their crispness, cylindrical shape and small size....
- T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF...
(under license)
- Wattie's
Wattie's or Heinz Wattie's Limited is a New Zealand-based food producer of frozen and packaged fruit, vegetables, sauces, baby food, cooking sauces, dressings and pet foods....
- Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers is an international company that offers various dieting products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. Founded in 1963 by Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch, it operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under names that are local translations of “Weight...
(under license)
- Wyler's
Wyler's is a brand of food used by Heinz for bouillon and soup, and Jel Sert for soft drinks.Heinz uses it for Wyler's Instant Bouillon, a brand of bouillon cube, and Wyler's Mrs...
2006 proxy battle
Billionaire
Nelson PeltzNelson Peltz is an American businessman. He is a board director of Wendy's Group, the franchise parent of T.J. Cinnamons, Pasta Connection and Wendy's. Peltz is the former owner of Snapple.- Background :...
initiated a proxy battle during 2006, culminating in a vote to place Peltz's nominees on the Board, which, depending on how many seats the dissident group received after the final vote tally, would displace some of the current board members. After the final vote, 2 out of the 5 nominees joined the Heinz Board. The new members of the board were Nelson Peltz and Matthew Craig Walsh.
2008 advertisement controversy
In June 2008, Heinz began an advertising campaign in the United Kingdom for their new New York Deli Mayo product range. The advertisement featured a family with the mother replaced by a stereotypical male New York deli worker. The advert ended with the father and the 'mother' kissing. This drew 200 complaints to the
Advertising Standards AuthorityThe Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
. On June 24, 2008 Heinz took the decision to withdraw the advertisement, which was initially supposed to run for five weeks. A spokesperson for Heinz stated that the reason for the withdrawal was recognition of the fact that some of its customers had concerns about the advertisement's content.
Withdrawing the advert caused further controversy with Heinz being accused of
homophobiaHomophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. The gay rights group Stonewall has called for a boycott of the company's products. Some have expressed surprise that Heinz has responded to what they view as a small number of complainants, relative to the United Kingdom's 3.6 million gay and lesbian consumers.
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Diane AbbottDiane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
called the decision to withdraw the advert 'ill-considered' and 'likely to offend the gay community' in an
Early Day MotionAn Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
on June 25.
In fiction
In the 1959 novel
The Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian Candidate , by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party....
antagonist Senator Johnny Iselin charges that there are Communists infiltrating the United States Defense Department. He offers different numbers of Communists at different times until he and his wife Eleanor settle on 57 as the number, "not only because Johnny would be able to remember it but because all of the jerks could remember it, too, as it could be linked so easily with the fifty-seven varieties of canned food that had been advertised so well and so steadily for so many years." The
1962 film adaptationThe Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
retains this plot device, with the number 57 selected upon the on-screen viewing of a
Heinz 57Heinz 57 is a shortened, popular form of the "57 Varieties" slogan ofPittsburgh's H. J. Heinz Company. In its early days, the company wanted to advertise the great number of choices of canned and bottled foods it offered for sale. Although the company had more than 60 products in 1892, the number...
bottle.
External links