Heinz Has An Insider Tactic To Get Restaurants To Buy Its Ketchup

Would you be disappointed if the restaurant you were eating at didn't have Heinz ketchup? In North America, at least, many would indeed feel let down. After all, Heinz is a mainstay of American cuisine. 

The Heinz Company was created well over a century ago, in 1869, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. By the start of the 1900s, the business became the top provider of ketchup in the United States, thanks in part to its savvy advertising efforts. Now, in the 2000s, nearly 100% of Americans have at least heard of Heinz, per YouGov, with three-quarters of the population approving of the brand. The iconic condiment is widely considered one of the best ketchups out there.

Can anything stand in Heinz's way? Even the pandemic didn't keep Heinz down, with sales increasing as people stocked up on the condiment for at-home dining (per Business Insider). However, behind the scenes, there may be trouble in paradise. In 2021, Business Insider reported that Kraft Heinz (Kraft and Heinz merged in 2015) had been cutting costs over the past handful of years, which employees told Insider had hampered innovation and led to high turnover. Plus, as more consumers look to diversify their diet with healthy and unique options, foodservice will naturally attempt to capitalize on those trends, and Heinz might get left behind.

Perhaps Heinz's concerns for the future are why the business has unveiled a new marketing campaign. Despite its internal struggles, a Heinz survey of more than 1,000 participants found that 75% of North Americans prefer Heinz ketchup while out to eat (via Businesswire). And when they don't get it, they're filled with resigned disappointment. So, Heinz has launched "Tip for Heinz," a program running from November 30 to December 21.

As explained in Heinz's press release, if you're dissatisfied with a non-Heinz restaurant ketchup, the company wants you to tip that restaurant a dollar, writing "tip for Heinz" alongside it. Then, if you take a picture of the receipt (restaurant name included) and post it to social media with the hashtags #TIPFORHEINZ and #SWEEPSTAKES, Heinz will reimburse your tip and potentially even pay you back up to $20 for your meal; you'll also have to upload your info to the Tip for Heinz website to make this happen. Additionally, the first 10 restaurants to adopt Heinz after receiving a "tip for Heinz" will earn free Heinz for a year. There will even be billboards in cities such as Chicago promoting the opportunity.

Will people truly demand Heinz in droves? Will restaurants switch over, or will just a few try to quickly secure a year's worth of free ketchup for the savings? Will Heinz remain top dog? Only time and social media trends will tell.