Heinz Plans New Recipe, Packaging For Flagship Ketchup Brand

One of the staples of the American fast food diet is ketchup – and nine times out of ten, that ketchup is made by H. J. Heinz Co.

But even the world's most popular ketchup, introduced in 1876, can't avoid modern-day marketing.

Heinz just announced that it will be reformulating its core ketchup recipe to reduce the amount of sodium in the product. Heinz will also introduce "Simply Heinz" next month, a new ketchup product that will replace the high fructose corn syrup in its regular ketchup with sugar. It will cost the same as regular Heinz ketchup. Both moves are designed to improve the nutritional content of the company's famous tomato-based condiment.

More changes are on the way. Those little single-serve packets – Heinz produces some 11 billion of them every year – are getting an update, too. Heinz will replace the packets with "Heinz Dip & Squeeze." These new packets hold three times as much ketchup and have a dual function, says Heinz: "Peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods." It's the first ketchup packet makeover for the foodservice industry in 42 years.

It always seems to be risky business when a long-standing brand modifies its product. New Coke met with a consumer backlash in the 1980s. Domino's recently made a major change to its pizza recipe with mixed results. So how will consumers react to a new formula for the ketchup they've known and loved for over a hundred years?