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Heinz

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"Heinz" redirects here. For other uses, see Heinz (disambiguation).
H. J. Heinz Company
Company typePublic (NYSE: HNZ)
IndustryFood processing
Founded1869
FounderHenry John Heinz
Headquarters600 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
United States
Key people
William R. Johnson; Chairman, President & CEO
Arthur Winkleblack; CFO & Exec. VP
ProductsKetchup, condiments, frozen food, soups, beans and pasta meals, infant food and other processed food products
RevenueIncrease$8.643 billion USD (2006)
Number of employees
33,000 (2007)
Websitewww.heinz.com

H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), commonly known as Heinz, famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan, is an American processed-food product company with its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

History

The company was founded in 1869 by the German Henry John Heinz in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, United States — a borough adjoining Pittsburgh. Heinz, then 25 years old, began by delivering processed condiments to local grocers by horse-drawn wagon. The company's first product was horseradish, followed by pickles, and tomato ketchup.

The company was originally named the Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works, and was run by Heinz and partner L. C. Noble. The name changed to Heinz, Noble & Company in 1872 when E. J. Noble became joint owner and the company relocated to nearby Pittsburgh.

After a banking panic forced him into bankruptcy in 1875, Heinz restarted his business with the help of his brother John and his cousin Frederick, and in the following year the company introduced what would become its most well-known product: tomato ketchup. The new company was known as F. & J. Heinz until 1888, when Henry bought a controlling interest from his brother and gave the business its current name.

Advertising cart for Heinz preserved sweet pickles, 1890

The company's famous slogan, "57 Varieties", was chosen by Henry Heinz in 1892 after he saw an advertisement for "21 varieties of shoes" in an elevated train car in New York. In actuality, the company was producing over sixty different products at the time, but Heinz chose the number 57 because the numbers "5" and "7" held a special significance for him and his wife. [1]

Another famous slogan is "Beanz Meanz Heinz", used in the 1960s and beyond to advertise their baked beans in the United Kingdom. Variations of this slogan were used over time, such as "A million housewives every day pick up a tin of Beans and say, Beanz Meanz Heinz", or "Don't be mean with the Beans Mum, Beanz Meanz Heinz". The slogan was put in abeyance during the 1990s, and officially dropped in favor of "Heinz Buildz Britz" c.1996, but after a surprise decline in sales, the new slogan was quickly dropped. In 2002, the company used the nostalgia that by this time surrounded the slogan by running a campaign called "Keep it or can it?" in which Heinz ads from the 1960s and 1970s were re-run, with the addition of an invitation to the public to vote on whether the slogan should be kept. The result was, as expected, a massive majority in favour of keeping the slogan. This, however, was not immediately acted upon, with Heinz's subsequent ad campaign using the slogan "The bean. The superbean." instead, although in 2004 they started spelling "Baked Beanz" with a "z" on their beans, which is seen as a reminder of the slogan, and in 2006 it was announced that the company are planning to re-introduce the slogan in a future campaign. From 2007 the company is again using the slogan "Beanz Meanz Heinz" in its campaigns.

New and old versions of the brand

In 1919 Henry Heinz died, and control of the company passed to his son, Howard Heinz, who was then succeeded by H. J. Heinz II, in 1941.

Tony O'Reilly made his name in international business at H. J. Heinz & Co. He joined the company in 1969 as MD of the Heinz subsidiary in the UK. He moved to the company HQ in Pittsburgh in 1971 when he was promoted to Senior Vice President. In 1973, he became COO and president, and in 1979, CEO and chairman in 1987, succeeding H. J. Heinz II, and the first non-Heinz family member to hold that post. His guidance is thought to have helped to transform the company into a major international competitor, and during his time in office, despite issues in later years, the company's value increased fifteenfold. O'Reilly left Heinz in 1998 in response to shareholder pressure; he was replaced by his deputy, William R. Johnson. It is reported that O'Reilly still has a 1.5-2% shareholding in Heinz.

By 1972, sales had reached the billion dollar mark. Today, Heinz sells more than 1,300 products worldwide ranging from ketchup to baby food.

“57 Varieties”

Heinz’s slogan for over a century has been “57 Varieties” even though when it was established Heinz had over 60 products. H.J. Heinz’s biography gives the reasoning for the choice of the number 57:

Mr. Heinz, while in an elevated railroad train in New York, saw among the car-advertising cards one about shoes with the expression ‘21 Styles.’ It set him to thinking, and as he told it: 'I said to myself, ‘we do not have styles of products, but we do have varieties of products.’ Counting up how many we had, I counted well beyond 57, but ‘57’ kept coming back into my mind. ‘Seven, seven’ - there are so many illustrations of the psychological influence of that figure and of its alluring significance to people of all ages and races that ‘58 Varieties’ or ‘59 Varieties’ did not appeal at all to me as being equally strong.'

— E.D. McCafferty, Henry J. Heinz: a biography, 1923, pp. 147

The first of the "57 Varieties" to be introduced by Heinz:

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of the corporation are: Charles Bunch, Leonard Coleman, John Drosdick, Edith Holiday, Candace Kendle, Dean O'Hare, Matthew Craig Walsh, Dennis H. Reilley, Lynn Swann, William R. Johnson, Michael Weinstein and Thomas Usher.

2006 proxy battle

Billionaire Nelson Peltz 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.

Brands of H.J. Heinz Company

Heinz products around the world

Australia

In Australia, Heinz is best known for tinned baked beans in tomato sauce (particularly due to the success of its "beans means Heinz" advertising campaign), and spaghetti in a similar sauce. Heinz's canned soup lines are widely recognised in Australia. Heinz manufactures condensed soup, as well as "ready to eat" soups - these are offered in single serve packaging as well as the traditional sized cans.

Their most iconic product is Heinz BIG RED Tomato Sauce, although the US style ketchup is also available.

Heinz Australia also manufactures a number of flavoured baked bean varieties, as well as canned meals.

Some products, such as Heinz ready to eat microwave bowl soups, are imported into Australia.

Heinz also markets the Watties brand of canned foods, which are made in New Zealand.

Philippines

In the Philippines, Heinz is a part of NutriAsia, which owns other bigger brands in the condiments industry, such as UFC (banana ketchup, tomato and spaghetti sauce), Datu Puti (vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce), Mang Tomas (gravy, barbecue sauce, oyster sauce and all-purpose sauce), Jufran(chili sauce and banana ketchup) and Papa (banana ketchup). Heinz is most famous as a brand of tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce in the country rather than being a tomato ketchup brand, which is being dominated by Del Monte Pacific, also recently acquired by a consortium of NutriAsia and San Miguel Corporation.

The Heinz brand is the 3rd largest tomato sauce (behind Del Monte and Hunt's) and the 2nd largest spaghetti sauce brand (behind Del Monte) in the country.

As of March 2006, Heinz and Nutriasia have ended their joint-venture partnership and Heinz products are now distributed by Getz bros.

Canada

Heinz was established in Canada in 1908 in Leamington, Ontario (Tomato Capital of Canada). The products are shipped from Leamington with English and French labels mostly to the United States. Baby food is one of the main products there.

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 amount of Indians who refrain from eating garlic and onion for religious and cultural reasons.

Heinz has acquired the former foods division of Glaxo India and gained the Complan, Glucon D, Glucon C, Sampriti Ghee, and Nycil products and brands.

Netherlands

H.J. Heinz Company acquired CSM Food Division (CFD) of CSM NV. With the acquisition Heinz bought the brands De Ruijter, Venz, Karvan Cévitam, Roosvicee, Honig, Baukje, Brinta, Saroma and HAK. This was one of the biggest acquisition Heinz made outside of North America.

On 17 October 2005 Heinz announced that it would sell the brand HAK to the investment company NPM. Along with the desinvesture the plant in Giessen was sold to the company. The market share of HAK was around 60% in the Netherlands

Heinz has various numbers of factories in Belgium and the Netherlands. The locations are Turnhout, Baarn, Elst, Nijmegen and Utrecht. In 2007 Heinz moved manufacturing from Baarn to its factory in Utrecht

United Kingdom

The UK headquarters is in Hayes, west London. After opening its first overseas office in London in 1896, the company opened its first UK factory in Peckham, south London in 1905. This was followed by a second factory at Harlesden, north-west London in 1919. A factory at Wigan opened in 1958. Heinz also has an infant feeding factory in Kendal, Cumbria. The site specialises in baby milks, under the brand of Farleys. It currently has around 200 employees.

1970s TV comedy series The Goodies spoofed the Heinz baked beans adverts. Tim Brooke-Taylor was the beans boy who, because he could never get the poem right, was always hurt. In 2001 the Food Standards Agency of the Government of the United Kingdom found Heinz canned baked beans products to be contaminated with the hormone disruptor bisphenol.[2]

USA

Heinz made the decision to start a pickle factory in Holland, Michigan in 1897. It is the largest pickle factory in the world. Heinz headquarters are based in the U.S. Steel Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the company's 'keystone' logo reflects Pennsylvania, the keystone state. However, a majority of its ketchup is produced at a factory in Fremont, Ohio. Hienz Field, home to the Pittsburgh Steelers, was offically named after Heinz Ketchup in 2001

Trivia

  • In the 1962 film adaptation of The Manchurian Candidate, the McCarthy-like senator implores his wife, Mrs. John Iselin, the villainess of the story, to settle on the number of Communists he says are in the Department of Defense, as he keeps forgetting the numbers when questioned. They eventually settle on the number 57 after Mrs. Iselin sees him using a bottle of Heinz ketchup, known for its 57 varieties.
  • In the early 1990s Heinz 57 brand ketchup sponsored the #57 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Pontiac Grand Prix driven by fellow Pennsylvania native Jimmy Spencer.
  • NHL Player Steve Heinze wore the number 57.
  • Heinz paid "$57" million for naming rights to Heinz Field (Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers), in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where it has its headquarters.
  • Heinz's Tomato Ketchup contains small amounts of celery.
  • Heinz is one of three major companies to include organic foods in its list of products. The others are PepsiCo and Campbells [citation needed].
  • An online competition, in association with YouTube, was announced in 2007, in which the public could create a 30 second commercial advertising Heinz ketchup. The competition ran through August of 2007, after which a panel of judges rewarded the creator of the best commercial, Andrew Dodson of Wheelersburg, Ohio, with $57,000 and ran it in a national ad. There were also four runners up who won $5,700 and received the honor of a national ad. The contest information can be found at http://TopThisTV.com.


See Also

Hunt's

Notes

  1. ^ H.J. Heinz Company Heinz - Consumer FAQs Retrieved Oct 25 2006
  2. ^ Friends of the Earth: Press Release: HORMONE DISRUPTOR FOUND IN CAN LININGS

References

  • Eleanor Foa Dienstag (1994). In Good Company:125 Years At The Heinz Table. Warner Books.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to H. J. Heinz Company.
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