What is it about Heinz Ketchup that makes it so wonderful?

[Simple Linctus]

There is something about Heinz Ketchup, and I don't know what it is... but I know it's my favourite vegetable by far. I've tried so many other ketchups, some of them considerably more expensive, and none measure up to Heinz. What's the deal?

[WordMan]

You might read this: http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_09_06_a_ketchup.html

It is Malcolm Gladwell's piece from The New Yorker and later included in one of his essay collection books. It discusses / asserts that Heinz represents a balancing of sour, salty, bitter, sweet and umame...

Enjoy.

[silenus]

Yet Hunt's wins the taste tests.

[3:20:59 or bust]

Originally Posted by silenus

Yet Hunt's wins the taste tests.

Well, those taste tests must be about as worthwhile as Hunt's itself, which is to say, not too damn worthy.

Heinz rules over Hunts nearly as much as Jif rules over Skippy.

[Guinastasia]

Hunt's is evil.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by silenus

Yet Hunt's wins the taste tests.

I agree. Hunt's is better than Heinz. I thought I was a Heinz guy until I had them side-by-side. Hunt's is fresher and more tomato tasting. For me, Hunt's wins in a landslide.

[amanset]

Originally Posted by Confused dart cum

There is something about Heinz Ketchup, and I don't know what it is... but I know it's my favourite vegetable by far. I've tried so many other ketchups, some of them considerably more expensive, and none measure up to Heinz. What's the deal?

Huh?

[birdbrain]

You didn't know cat sup was a vegetable?

[amanset]

Originally Posted by birdbrain

You didn't know cat sup was a vegetable?

I was working on the assumption that it was a marketing thing and that everyone was laughing at the idea of it. I didn't realise people actually believed it.

[madmonk28]

Ronald Reagan did.

[voltaire]

It's all that sweet, sweet high-fructose corn syrup.

[GuanoLad]

Did you grow up with it? If so, that may be part of it. I like the brands I grew up with, and am reluctant when I am forced to change. Nothing compares to childhood favourites.

[Curiosity Kills Her]

I'm a Bodacious convert.

[MyFootsZZZ]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

I agree. Hunt's is better than Heinz. I thought I was a Heinz guy until I had them side-by-side. Hunt's is fresher and more tomato tasting. For me, Hunt's wins in a landslide.

Agreed!

[interface2x]

Originally Posted by amanset

I was working on the assumption that it was a marketing thing and that everyone was laughing at the idea of it. I didn't realise people actually believed it.

I assumed they were joking.

[MegaBee]

Originally Posted by Guinastasia

Hunt's is evil.

Hunt's ketchup tastes like it's gone bad.

[amanset]

Originally Posted by MyFootsZZZ

Agreed!

I honestly can't tell anymore.

[johnpost]

it tastes red.

[Acsenray]

Is it true that Hunt's changed from "catsup" to "ketchup" only because the Reagan administration's regulations allowed "ketchup" to be counted as a vegetable but made no mention of "catsup"?

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by Confused dart cum

There is something about Heinz Ketchup, and I don't know what it is...

Marketing and brand loyalty. People will argue to the contrary until they're blue in the face, but blind taste tests suggest otherwise . Not just with ketchup, but with wine, beer, soft drinks, mayo, etc.

See the Pepsi challenge, ketchup taste test referenced above, Smirnoff winning vodka tastings, etc.

[Aeris]

I am a Heinz fan. Hunt's and any of the organic stuff I try just tastes bland. I do try to buy organic and healthy when possible but ketchup is one of the things that I am willing to buy brand name. Granted I don't even eat ketchup very often, usually only when making pulled pork. But it's probably the sugar that makes Heinz so delicious.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Tastes like burning.

[Chanteuse]

Hunt's and Heinz are both good brands, but Del Monte ketchup is just evil!

[ZipperJJ]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

I agree. Hunt's is better than Heinz. I thought I was a Heinz guy until I had them side-by-side. Hunt's is fresher and more tomato tasting. For me, Hunt's wins in a landslide.

See, I don't want my ketchup tasting of tomato. I want it to taste like salt and sugar, but mostly salt!

Originally Posted by voltaire

It's all that sweet, sweet high-fructose corn syrup.

Heinz makes a Reduced Sugar variety that tastes just the same to me (no doubt they have replaced the sweetness 1:1 with sugar alcohols). I just wanted to pimp it here so people maybe start buying it and it doesn't disappear from the shelves

[minlokwat]

Ever go to an eatery where the establishment has tried to pull the old ketchup switcheroo? That is, put the inferior quality, bulk-sale brand in the Heinz bottle and hope no one can tell the difference.

Personally I can't but my wife, ever the connoisseur on matters such as these, has her spidey sense go off and knows immediately.

[Quimby]

For me Heinz=Ketchup. When I see Hunt's on a table it makes me feel like I stepped into a parallel universe.

[Kimballkid]

Originally Posted by minlokwat

Ever go to an eatery where the establishment has tried to pull the old ketchup switcheroo? That is, put the inferior quality, bulk-sale brand in the Heinz bottle and hope no one can tell the difference.

Personally I can't but my wife, ever the connoisseur on matters such as these, has her spidey sense go off and knows immediately.

They may be filling it with Heinz from the big ass can and the can makes it taste funny.

[Cheesesteak]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Heinz makes a Reduced Sugar variety that tastes just the same to me (

They also make a style called "Simply Heinz" that uses sugar rather than HFCS. I can't tell the difference, and it lets me stick it to Big Corn.

[thelurkinghorror]

Originally Posted by 3:20:59 or bust

Well, those taste tests must be about as worthwhile as Hunt's itself, which is to say, not too damn worthy.

Sure, Heinz is pretty good.

Heinz rules over Hunts nearly as much as Jif rules over Skippy.

Die blasphemer! Use his blood to flavor the Hunt's!

Originally Posted by Acsenray

Is it true that Hunt's changed from "catsup" to "ketchup" only because the Reagan administration's regulations allowed "ketchup" to be counted as a vegetable but made no mention of "catsup"?

It was a proposal, don't think it actually became law/regulation. I suppose that doesn't mean that it's automatically wrong, although parsimony would suggest that they changed it because most Americans say ketchup.

Originally Posted by Quimby

For me Heinz=Ketchup. When I see Hunt's on a table it makes me feel like I stepped into a parallel universe.

It's from my area originally, but the Bay Area is firmly Heinz territory. Where is Hunt's popular? The Midwest? Is it for people who put Ranch dressing and Miracle Whip on everything?

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

It's from my area originally, but the Bay Area is firmly Heinz territory. Where is Hunt's popular? The Midwest? Is it for people who put Ranch dressing and Miracle Whip on everything?

See, I think of Heinz as the Miracle Whip of ketchup myself. Hunt's has purity of flavor. Heinz is just some bastard tomato-like condiment. That said, I do have both in the fridge.

[Acsenray]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

parsimony would suggest that they changed it because most Americans say ketchup.

So far as I know, "catsup" and "ketchup" were always pronounced the same in the United States.

[thelurkinghorror]

Originally Posted by Acsenray

So far as I know, "catsup" and "ketchup" were always pronounced the same in the United States.

Oh you pedants say in this context also means write. FWIW, American Heritage and Collins give both, plus a third slight variation. I don't know if I've ever heard it spoken. I only remember Mr. Burns being confused by the difference and saying both distinctively different.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by Acsenray

So far as I know, "catsup" and "ketchup" were always pronounced the same in the United States.

I've definitely heard cats-up. Click on the audio link here.

[Rhiannon8404]

Originally Posted by Cheesesteak

They also make a style called "Simply Heinz" that uses sugar rather than HFCS. I can't tell the difference, and it lets me stick it to Big Corn.

We switched to this and can't tell the difference either.

I just wish I could buy Heinz Mustard at my local groceries. I am reduced to stealing it from restaurants.

[cmyk]

For myself, Heinz has a certain vinegar to sweetness ratio that no other ketchup seems to come close to replicating.

It's mostly their particular vinegar taste I like best. Hunts is just awful.

[Tapiotar]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

Marketing and brand loyalty. People will argue to the contrary until they're blue in the face, but blind taste tests suggest otherwise . Not just with ketchup, but with wine, beer, soft drinks, mayo, etc.

See the Pepsi challenge, ketchup taste test referenced above, Smirnoff winning vodka tastings, etc.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece about why items that win taste tests don't sell as well as their competitors. IIRC, Pepsi wins over Coke in a taste test because it is sweeter, and sweeter is more appealing in one or two sips. If, however, you drink a whole can, Pepsi becomes more cloying, and the same people who rated it more highly on the first sip will now rate Coke more highly. The same principle applies to many, many other items and tastes other than just sweet.

Sorry, don't remember the name of the piece, but it was definitely Malcolm Gladwell. It could have been collected in Blink...I listened to it on a long car trip, coming into Columbia, SC in the winter a few years ago.

[thelurkinghorror]

Yeah, you see, I would consider Coca-Cola Classic to be more cloying than Pepsi. I rarely drink either, but it seems like the former sticks to my teeth. It may not be sugar, but it's... something.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

Yeah, you see, I would consider Coca-Cola Classic to be more cloying than Pepsi. I rarely drink either, but it seems like the former sticks to my teeth. It may not be sugar, but it's... something.

Nah, for me, Pepsi definitely seem the less "dry" of the two.

[Tapiotar]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

Yeah, you see, I would consider Coca-Cola Classic to be more cloying than Pepsi. I rarely drink either, but it seems like the former sticks to my teeth. It may not be sugar, but it's... something.

I don't drink them, either. Just reporting on what he wrote about the sip test, and the overall preferences of consumers. Individual tastes vary, of course. He also considered the influence of the label, if it is revealed. The comments on wine tasting were very entertaining for the sardonically inclined.

[MrDibble]

I pity the rest of the world, that doesn't have the experience of All Gold Tomato Sauce (which is what we call ketchup). Made with just tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices. We get your Heinz stuff here too, and it's OK, but it's not All Gold.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

My opinion: There are better and worse ketchups, but Heinz certainly is consistent.

Glad the important controversies are being discussed openly at last.

Next up: Citing vintage years of RC cola, and whether or not to make urination a Nobel prize category.

[Taomist]

Mmm, RC. It's the only sugared cola I ever liked, besides China Cola. <3 But to me, ALL sugared pop turns my teeth immediately fuzzy. Gross. I drink diet for a couple of other reasons, but not having to deal with that is a good one.

[DWMarch]

Originally Posted by Tapiotar

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece about why items that win taste tests don't sell as well as their competitors. IIRC, Pepsi wins over Coke in a taste test because it is sweeter, and sweeter is more appealing in one or two sips. If, however, you drink a whole can, Pepsi becomes more cloying, and the same people who rated it more highly on the first sip will now rate Coke more highly. The same principle applies to many, many other items and tastes other than just sweet.

Sorry, don't remember the name of the piece, but it was definitely Malcolm Gladwell. It could have been collected in Blink...I listened to it on a long car trip, coming into Columbia, SC in the winter a few years ago.

It's in the article linked to in post 2. Very long article but very informative.

[Face Intentionally Left Blank]

Former Pittsburgher here. Loved Heinz, always bought Heinz. After moving away and noticing Heinz cost twice as much as Hunts around here, I tried Hunts. After awhile, I decided I preferred it.

Hunts recently switched away from high-fructose corn sweetener to sugar. I didn't like the change. Perhaps it has to do with what you are accustomed to.

[sahirrnee]

I never paid much attention to whether it was Hunts or Heinz in the fridge because I usually don't buy the condiments for the house.
I figured catsup was just catsup.
However, since the house guests from hell are still here and part of their chosen contribution to the household is groceries, everything they buy is wal-mart brand.
OMG I don't know how they can legally label that diarrhea in a bottle as catsup.
So I bought a bottle of Heinz and shortly thereafter a bottle of Hunts, because you know which bottles are being used and which are rotting on the shelves (along with the wal-mart mayo, salad dressings, crackers, etc).

I like both, but I think Hunts is slightly better.

[Simple Linctus]

Heinz doesn't have HFCS here. Actually relatively few products do because we don't have the same odd sugar rules you guys have.

Might be fun to start a thread about HFCS in American cuisine but I'm probably not the person to do it. Volunteers?

[Moe]

Originally Posted by WordMan

You might read this: http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_09_06_a_ketchup.html

It is Malcolm Gladwell's piece from The New Yorker and later included in one of his essay collection books. It discusses / asserts that Heinz represents a balancing of sour, salty, bitter, sweet and umame...

Enjoy.

I gotta say, for those who might think an article on this subject would be boring and not worth reading, well... it's worth the read. Great article!

[oreally]

Heinz is just about the only condiment where I think the brand name really matters. It's easily the best and worth a little extra $. Hunts is passable only and the rest are just drek.

That said, lately Heinz has seemed a little different to me, a little off somehow, like maybe it's a touch too sweet or not salty enough or something. Hard to say but something's off....

[Anne Neville]

It's from Pittsburgh. That's why it's better. We have the best football team (as measured in Super Bowl wins) and the best ketchup.

Originally Posted by pulykamell

See, I think of Heinz as the Miracle Whip of ketchup myself. Hunt's has purity of flavor. Heinz is just some bastard tomato-like condiment

OK, that's it. You are banned from Pittsburgh for life.

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

It's from Pittsburgh. That's why it's better. We have the best football team (as measured in Super Bowl wins) and the best ketchup.



OK, that's it. You are banned from Pittsburgh for life.

Promise?