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H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), commonly known as Heinz, famous for both its "57 Varieties" slogan and its British commercial jingle "Beanz Meanz Heinz," was founded in 1869 by 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 initially 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 joined on 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 they 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 controlling interest from his brother and gave the business its current name.

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.^{[citation needed]} 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 (H.J. Heinz Company Heinz - Consumer FAQs Retrieved Oct 25 2006).

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.

In 1919 Henry Heinz died, and control of the company passed to his son, Howard Heinz, who was then succeeded by Skull and Bones member, H. J. Heinz II, in 1941. By 1972, sales had reached the billion dollar mark. Today, Heinz sells more than 1,300 products worldwide ranging from ketchup to baby food and canned seafood.

H. J. Heinz II's son was United States Senator from Pennsylvania John Heinz, who died in a plane crash on April 4, 1991. His widow, Teresa, married U.S. Senator from Massachusetts John Kerry in 1995. Kerry ran unsuccessfully for President in 2004. Thanks to Teresa Heinz Kerry, the 2004 presidential campaign gave the Heinz Company considerable publicity.

[edit] “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:

This clearly contradicts what many people believe, that Heinz chose the number 57 for occult reasons. The fact that there is no mention of the occult in Heinz's biography, and certainly no mention of the significance of the numbers that make up the number 57 (i.e 5 and 7, rather than 57) doesn't seem to have dampended this rumour in the slightest. Some people believe that Heinz was a freemason^{[citation needed]}, which isn't mentioned once in his biography, or by any other reputable sources. It appears that this fact, and the fallacy that the number 57 was picked due to its occult significance, has been perpetuated, in part, by previous edits of this page and the internet in general. A search on google for "Heinz 57 occult" (Google search results Heinz 57 occult Retrieved Dec 7 2006) results in a large quantity of pages, many of which state that "Heinz chose the number 57 for what his biographer describes as 'occult reasons.'" The vast majority of these appear to be copies of each other, with none of them actually give a source for this fact - which of course they can't, given that Heinz's biography clearly doesn't state this.

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

[edit] Trivia

In 2004, Argentine football player Gabriel Heinze, upon signing for Manchester United, chose 57 as his squad number for the season, but was later convinced to change it to the more conventional 4. NHL Player Steve Heinze also used the number.

On the cover of The Who's record "The Who Sell Out", singer Roger Daltrey is shown immersed in a tub of Heinz's baked beans. Daltrey allegedly contracted pneumonia as a result.

In 2001 the Food Standards Agency of the Government of the United Kingdom found contamination in Heinz canned baked beans products with the hormone disruptor bisphenol ^[1].

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.

Tapping the 57 circle on the neck label of the Heinz Ketchup bottle causes the notoriously sluggish Ketchup to flow out of the bottle.

In the early 1990s Heinz 57 brand ketchup sponsored the #57 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Jimmy Spencer.

The Heinz labels are designed in the shape of a keystone. This is due to the fact that Heinz is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania is known as the keystone state.

Heinz's famous Tomato Ketchup contains small amounts of celery.

I-376/US 22 to Pittsburgh is exit 57 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

[edit] Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of the corporation are: Charles Bunch, Mary Choksi, Leonard Coleman, Peter Coors, Edith Holiday, William R. Johnson, Candace Kendle, Dean O'Hare, Lynn Swann, and Thomas Usher.

[edit] Proxy Battle

Billionaire Nelson Peltz has initiated a proxy battle against the company, 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.

[edit] Brands of H.J. Heinz Company

[edit] Heinz products around the world

[edit] Australia

In Australia, Heinz is best known for tinned Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, and Spaghetti in a similar sauce. Heinz's soup lines are not widely recognised in Australia.

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

Heinz Australia also manufacture a number of flavoured bean varieties, which differ to those found in other countries such as the UK - for example cheesy beans, sweet chilli beans and Mexican beans

[edit] Philippines

In the Philippines, Heinz is a part of NutriAsia, who 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 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.

Heinz is now distributed by Getz bros. Philippines

[edit] 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

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links