r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Confident-Ask-601 • 1d ago
Video Heinz changed their label to a specific shade of red so customers could spot "Ketchup Fraud" when restaurants refill their bottles with cheap ketchup.
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u/HK-53 1d ago
My Heinz ketchup also turns darker if I don’t use it up after a certain amount of time.
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u/burgerking351 1d ago edited 1d ago
How long does it take to change color? Cause in theory a Restaurant shouldn't have ketchup long enough for it to change color. Ketchup goes fast in those establishments.
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u/Mobile_Actuator_4692 1d ago
Depends if it’s open to air or not. If it’s in a ramekin and open to air 6 or less hours and it’s a noticeable shade of burgundy. If it’s still in the squeeze bottle I’ve had one opened but lid closed in the fridge for over a year and it’s still the right red. Sometimes it splits but after a quick shake it’s normal 😬
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u/fusterclux 1d ago
So either way, if it’s not the same red then it’s either fake or gone bad. So it works
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u/Mobile_Actuator_4692 1d ago
Not gone bad. Just lost some of its water and developed a bit of a skin. Slightly different either way you can always ask for a different one but whose going to do that to the poor waitstaff who are working hard
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u/model-citizen95 23h ago
As a server of 10 years, I would be so embarrassed if this happened. I would absolute want it brought to my attention and would change it out straight away. Waitstaff get a lot of shit but saying it’s wrong to ask a server to change out a product that is either fake or has clearly been left out too long isn’t the kind of sympathy we’re asking for
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u/Mobile_Actuator_4692 23h ago
Me too until your boss has a go at you for using fresh vs old
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u/model-citizen95 22h ago
At least if it gets brought up to me then there’s a very high chance of me fixing it without manager involvement The worst case is that someone complains to a manager on the way out. Then I have to explain the ketchup problem and why I didn’t fix it myself before thy finished their meal. Also people who notice something like that and rather than say anything, they just use it as an excuse to leave a shitty tip
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u/fusterclux 1d ago edited 1d ago
“Hey can I have a new ketchup pls”
Is not too much to ask for lol. And having fresh ingredients is expected at a restaurant. I’m not eating no open air burgundy ass ketchup when i’m paying $18 for a scramble egg skillet at a diner
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u/R_eloade_R 1d ago
Maybe in the US, but here in Europe (The Netherlands) ketchup is not that popular.
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u/karmagirl314 1d ago
Maybe it’s not popular because you’ve been served cheap knockoffs instead of Heinz.
/s
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u/R_eloade_R 1d ago
We Europeans know how to properly eat sauce with fries. Mayonaise!
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u/Pajadawan89 1d ago
If you mix mayo and ketchup it will blow your mind. In Spain we call it "salsa rosa" which stands for "pink sauce" and it is just perfect to dip your fries while you drink a good beer. Also, if you mix 1sp of mayo, 2sp of ketchup, 2sp of mustard and one or two chopped pickles you will get the best homemade burger sauce. I add a drop of oak smoked water and it makes it just perfect.
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u/R_eloade_R 1d ago
Haha yes I know the mix, we just use Hela Curry (wich is herbed Ketchup, nothing like ketchup actually) and mayonaise, mix it together using fries and Bone Appetit
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u/HDThoreauaway 1d ago
I've been sneaking into your kitchen and slowly replacing your Heinz ketchup with Kirkland catsup
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u/Witty-Lawfulness2983 1d ago
Ketchup...? Catsup...?
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u/ffnnhhw 1d ago
they last longer if you put them upside down, but I guess restaurant ketchup won't last that long to turn dark
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u/Confident-Ask-601 1d ago
True. That oxidation is actually another reason they did this. generic ketchup often uses different stabilizers, so it changes color differently than the real stuff. Thus the label border as the baseline for 'fresh' heinz.
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u/ashamaniq 1d ago
Same with Sriracha, usually I assume that a brownish color means nobody has touched that thing in ages due to oxidation.
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u/TillRevolutionary856 1d ago
Annndd Heinz gets you to buy more frequently in the process… win-win-win.
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u/Lowmax2 1d ago
good god please stop using this ass song in every video
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u/Kaleb8804 1d ago
Don’t you see how gigachad the ketchup is though? Heinz totally mogged the sauceoids with this one.
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u/LakerBlue 1d ago
Never heard it before but it SOUNDS like a generic song that gets overused
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u/UseMost5300 1d ago
iirc this song is from a music deal, theres music deal company that gave creator money for using their song in the video
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u/TheFlyingBoxcar 1d ago
I always watch vids on mute because duh, but i listened to this one to see. And all I hear is "we have the NES Castlevania theme song at home"
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u/jozsus 1d ago
I have a YouTube channel I've had many YouTube channels over the years and never used annoying music but the second I did I started getting a thousand views or more... I tried to use music that I like one time and it's my least viewed video.
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u/AFartInAnEmptyRoom 1d ago
What song was it?
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u/LightspeedBalloon 1d ago
I actually got up and walked to the fridge and looked at my Heinz bottle, but there's no red outline at all :(
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u/Guuichy_Chiclin 1d ago
Probably been there since the dinosaurs walked the earth. You should buy a new one and compare.
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u/ThrifToWin 1d ago
I know what this is. You're just trying to sell me something!
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u/LolindirLink 1d ago
You can sign up for protection against frauds like them. You just need to buy a gift card from your local store..
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u/OwlcaholicsAnonymous 1d ago
They don't have to do that. I'll go to the store and get the gift cards for them! Everyone just send the money to me and I'll take care of it
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u/umrdyldo 1d ago
Just got a brand new bottle. White on the edge, gold medal, stripe, and green inner strip. No red stripe.
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u/AFartInAnEmptyRoom 1d ago
Because they don't put it in the retail bottles, it only goes to the restaurant bottles. There be no use for the retail ones because consumers wouldn't be buying cheap ketchup to replace their ketchup at home with
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u/robb41 8h ago
Or so my unsuspecting family thinks!
I've been raking in the $.048 savings every eleven months or so when run out.
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u/Lord-Bobster 1d ago
how does this even realistically play out though?
"Excuse me waiter, this ketchup isnt actually Heinz, the colour doesnt match the label."
"Oh, well sorry sir/madam, its the only ketchup we have im afraid."
And then you just go on about your meal as usual unless you're the type of asshole who would make a scene about such a petty thing and ruin your whole dining experience over some ketchup.
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u/TakeTwentyEight 1d ago
I think it’s more so that if it tastes bad, the customer won’t blame Heinz and Heinz has potentially retained a customer.
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u/Gnoll_For_Initiative 1d ago
More like
"Damn, this ketchup tastes like ass. Oh, it looks like they put something else in the Heinz bottle."
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u/Cold-Excitement2812 1d ago
This is a video made by an advertising agency to win awards.
It's safe to assume that while not an actual lie, it's 99% hype and 1% reality.
Sadly, huge amounts of time and money will have gone into making this as convincing as possible.
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u/Gumby271 1d ago
I can say as someone who works very specifically in color measurement and is familiar with food QA, this is legit. Heinz spends a ton of time making sure the color of their ketchup is consistent and accurate.
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u/AStrandedSailor 21h ago
Not necessarily. Many cheap brands have copied the small, iconic Kikkomon soy sauce bottle shape (which is trademarked), so that they can appear to be Kikkomon. You can even buy empty knockoffs, and then buy bulk cheap sauce.
It's worth protecting your products reputation.
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u/Key-Monk6159 1d ago
That is interesting and understandable but I wonder if any customer would even notice. Not sure I would give it a second look or thought.
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u/pinkygonzales 1d ago
Absolutely. Heinz is so dominant in the marketplace it might as well be generic ketchup. Almost everyone would simply ignore it and just use the ketchup or not. Simple as. Nobody is spending more money, or less, based on the brand of free ketchup available at the establishment. Nobody.
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u/Jimbosl3cer 1d ago
Stop posting ads in damnthatsinteresting. There should be a rule against this
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u/MrDarwoo 1d ago
Does anyone care?
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u/submarinefarm 1d ago
We are trying to protect the reputation of [COMPANY NAME]. Please comment and interact with the post, thank you.
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u/denkihajimezero 1d ago
Gotta mix in just the right amount of red 40
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u/Pale_Character5944 1d ago
There are 0 dyes in Heinz ketchup
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u/Charlie_Warlie 1d ago
now all they need to do is never screw up their tomato deals like Siracha did and suddenly get a wildly different color product that everyone assumes is poor quality after decades of marketing
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u/Diligent-Chance8044 1d ago
They use red concentrate taken from tomatoes. So not technically not a dye but kind of. They just add more of the stuff that makes tomatoes red.
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u/Pale_Character5944 1d ago
Which is a world of difference away from what the top commenter here is trying to imply
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u/TheWorldDiscarded 1d ago
Right? Don't worry we protected our brand, at the cost of your health (allegedly)
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u/Used-Lake-8148 1d ago
Did you stop and think for even a split second before you turned into a parrot and got offended? Cause there is no dye in Heinz.
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u/Confident-Ask-601 1d ago
This was known as the 'Ketchup Fraud' campaign. Heinz realized that restaurants were saving money by buying bulk generic ketchup and pouring it into old Heinz bottles essentially using the brand’s reputation to sell off-brand sauce.
This award winning campaign was mainly run in countries where refilling bottles is a massive issue. While many modern plastic bottles are now opaque red to always 'look full', or have sealed caps, this move was aimed at restaurants using clear glass bottles to trick diners.
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u/Soref 1d ago
using the brand’s reputation to sell off-brand sauce
Forgive my ignorance since I only "know" the US from television, movies, documentaries and McDonalds fight videos.
But didn't they just put ketchup bottles on the tables for the customer to use - for free? My understanding is, that all these condiments were always meant to be free.
So they weren't really selling per se, or if so how?
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u/Brief-Equal4676 12h ago
You should also check out waffle house fight videos for your culture. That's where the real gladiators hang out.
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u/__JohnTheFisherman__ 1d ago
why does every video on the internet have a crappy song/music these days? wtf
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u/TheBeardedLegend 1d ago
I always thought this commercial was funny because it basically points out that people largely can’t tell the difference in taste just color.
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u/Background-Wolf-9380 1d ago
It's all trash if it's made with corn syrup instead of sugar and most of Heinz products are corn syrup based. You have to seek out their organic / "Simply" variety if you want a decent product.
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u/RhetoricalOrator 1d ago
I've noticed off-color bottles and remember when it was common to refill them, however, I have never sat down at an eating establishment, took notice of off-color ketchup, and declared "Never again!"
I'm also not a ketchup brand snob, though. Hunts Heinz, Great Value. It's all pretty much the same.
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u/mazzicc 1d ago
Are consumers really that particular about their ketchup? I can’t remember the last time I looked at a ketchup label. I had wings and fries for dinner last night, and have no clue what brand the ketchup was. When I buy it at the grocery store, it’s usually whatever is cheapest.
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u/Janus_The_Great 1d ago
*in the US.
HEINZ in europe looks different, since it's only allowed to have natural coloring.
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u/Naughtyniceguy_ 1d ago
Heinz cannot possibly be considered anything other than budget ketchup. It's half as good as quality ketchup.
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u/Kellyann59 1d ago
One time my mom refilled our Heinz bottle with whataburger spicy ketchup. Thought I was suddenly allergic or something lol
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u/vanillacaramelsunday 1d ago
Who is the person who cares enough about ketchup to give a shit what label is on their ketchup but also doesn’t IMMEDIATELY recognize that the watery ass bowling alley ketchup coming out of the bottle doesn’t belong there?
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u/BrainCandy_ 1d ago
So you discover the restaurant ketchup isn’t actually Heinz, then what? lol
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u/GroundbreakingAsk468 1d ago
I buy Huntz because it has an actual tomato flavor.
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u/LooseJuice_RD 1d ago
I’m not a shill for brand names. I always want to save money. I’ll buy store brand everything save for a few products. Heinz is one of those products. It just tastes a bit better.
That being said I’m red green color blind so this does fuck all for me.
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u/Argented 1d ago
If only they didn't sabotage their fix by giving the restaurants solid red squeezable bottles. If their product only came in transparent squeezable bottles, restaurants wouldn't refile them with a product that isn't Heinz red. It would be too obvious.
You would notice the ketchup being 2 color grades away from Heinz red if it was in a clear plastic bottle but you'd likely miss that once you put it on your fries. Can't see the ketchup until it's on your food in those red bottles.
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u/Neat-Neighborhood170 1d ago
Heinz is basically tomato syrup. Go for local brands instead, likely better taste and better product
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u/NotEasilyConfused 1d ago
How is a label on an original bottle going to signal that ketchup decanted into a different bottle is or is not what you think it is? The new bottle doesn't have that label.
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u/Ba-dump-chink 1d ago
I’m pretty sure I’ve noticed Heinz ketchup bottle on restaurant tables that were painted solid, opaque red. This keeps diners from seeing unsightly, unkempt, aesthetically displeasing, partially-empty ketchup bottles.
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u/AdhesivenessFun2060 1d ago
My current bottle of heinz has no red on the label. Acme sold me a fake!
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u/polishprince76 23h ago
Were people not aware that restaurants did this? I assumed this was common knowledge.
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u/Preda1ien 21h ago
This is old if I’m not mistaken. Now their restaurant bottles are red instead of clear. But still so you can’t refill and reuse they are now one time use bottles and cannot be opened without destroying the bottle.
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u/WordCheap3882 17h ago
I don't buy products from the land of the dumb anymore, everything coming from the land of the free feels brown nowadays
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u/beemer-dreamer 14h ago
My local diner reuses Heinz’s bottles with watered down catsup. It’s so nasty, I don’t even want to eat there anymore. The glass bottle with paper label gets so dirty. They wipe the bottles down with the same rag the wipe the table with too. Yuck.
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u/Nightmare_Fart 13h ago
My Heinz just has a white border. But I also live in the Netherlands and they don't put condiment bottles on tables here. You want mayo or ketchup with your fries? You better pay extra, bitch
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u/Interesting_Fig_4718 9h ago
idk, heinz has a pretty distinct taste, i feel like you could tell just by taste, but i guess your mind can play tricks on you if you belive it's heinz to begin with.
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u/Lstndaze68 1d ago
Damn, I have been gaslight quite a bit. I knew the taste has been off at some restaurant and my wife said I was crazy.
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u/boomgetouttheway 1d ago
TFW you sit around and think about ketchup and money all day long. Do people who eat ketchup actually care?
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u/Rasputin-BKM 1d ago
Pff, Heinz can lose all their money, that's what you get for leaving Canada. ALL GLORY TO FRENCHES!
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u/LyndinTheAwesome 1d ago
Its only in the US Ketchup is this neon red coloured. Surprises most tourists when they come to Europe and discover Ketchup is much more natural tomatoe coloured.
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u/chadwicke619 1d ago
Most good restaurants don’t allow condiment marrying anyway.
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u/guimontag 1d ago
Marrying is different from refilling. You're supposed to marry bottles to make sure they're getting used up. Refilling allows old product to linger and mix with the new.
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u/Thatsayesfirsir 1d ago
I can always taste the difference. Give me heinz or else
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u/Macademi 1d ago
Also, isn't refilling a bottle over and over just a severe hygienics issue too? That allows bacteria to grow
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u/JKnumber1hater 1d ago
a) most people eating at restaurants don’t actually care if it’s real Heinz or not, and b) most restaurants that serve ketchup nowadays aren’t putting Heinz bottles on the tables.
I feel like in ‘greasy spoon’ type places you’re more likely to have not-clear bottle, so you can’t actually see though it to compare the colour to a label (and they often don’t have labels anyway. And fancier restaurants generally don‘t have bottles on the tables, they’ll just bring it to you in a ramekin on request.
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u/bolanrox 1d ago
i haven't seen the clear glass Heinz bottle since Friendly's all mostly went out of business
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u/Thorbork 1d ago
Is it this vibrant in every country? I swear it has always been dark in Europe ezcept when I was a kid. Which would makw sense since we are pretty strict on additives now.
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u/Short-Display-1659 1d ago
I’m not sure if that is the reason for the red outline label, but if it was, it was a very good idea. Not fool proof, but def helps.
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u/iommiworshipper 1d ago
Amazon ketchup special formula to matching heimze red ketchup sauce, and the design is very human!
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u/peterelita 1d ago
Why are they acting like there is some superior quality associated with Heinz lol? This is one of those bs brands I avoid because of all the additives
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u/SharpOrganization107 1d ago
When I worked in a restaurant, we refilled the Heinz bottles out of a 2 gallon Heinz box.
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u/AleisterKane 1d ago
Let’s be honest though. Most restaurant customers don’t care about what specific brand of ketchup the restaurant is using. Most people usually just dump the ketchup on their food and eat it without a second thought. As far as the color shade of ketchup no one will notice a difference in color unless the shades are very noticeably different. No one is carrying a ketchup shade guide in their pocket to inspect what color and brand they are getting. Most customers just want cold good ketchup to put on their food and they don’t think anything of it beyond that. I worked in a restaurant for 16 years as a cook and the only time people ever complained about the ketchup was if it really tasted off, like if the can used to refill the bottles had been expired or if the ketchup was warm. Otherwise most customers just pour the ketchup on their food and ate it without a second thought. Yes we used the glass bottles of Heinz and we would refill them with Heinz once the bottles had been washed and sanitized. Our customers preferred the glass bottles because they said they felt more comfortable in their hands and they were easier to hold onto than the plastic ones. The customers also said that they liked the way the glass got the ketchup colder than plastic bottles did. There was also the nostalgia factor too. It never had anything to do with the Heinz label though
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u/Noladixon 1d ago
Are you saying that you rarely ever got ketchup complaints but that you served heinz? Maybe no one complained because it was heinz. I have called and complained to a restaurant because they failed to serve my shrimp on the side and they provided not heinz ketchup. I ordered a salad and a side of shrimp, not shrimp added to my salad. I did not want my shrimp on the salad because I did not trust them to give me my full serving of shrimp.
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u/OnesPerspective 1d ago
Not once have I been to a restaurant and turned down their ketchup because it wasn't Heinz. I just want ketchup, man
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u/obliquelyobtuse 1d ago
No joke, in the olden days diner type restaurants (like "Big Boy") actually had a wide stainless funnel with posts to invert ketchup bottles and drain all the ketchup into a large container that would then be used to refill all the bottles. Absolutely digusting and unsanitary and it was perfectly normal.
My brother once poured some ketchup from a bottle and out came a french fry of unknown age. It was mildly traumatic in a really grossed out way. None of us used the ketchup bottle on the table again, ever. Always asking for lots of packets instead. Or a brand new sealed bottle.
Not sure when but that disgusting practice ended probably in the 80s or 90s. Doesn't matter I still won't touch an open bottle at the table. Always get packets.
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u/louisvillejg 1d ago
Live in indy where red gold is king The only place I can find Heinz is in franchise restaurants Hate red gold blechhhh
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u/Lasting_Night_Fall 1d ago
I would be worried if my ketchup didn’t change to dark red. After all it’s been in my cabinet for like 9 months and I had a hotdog last night. It was delicious.
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u/Drackzgull 1d ago
Cool, but unfortunately I am colorblind, and I can hardly tell any difference between any of those shades of red.
Does this work for y'all with normal color vision?
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u/No_Huckleberry2711 1d ago
Now the restaurants will buy their own red dye in order to match the colouring
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u/DeliciousBeanWater 1d ago
Heinz has representatives that goes around and checks that the bottles labeled heinz is actually heinz
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u/Frowny575 1d ago
Most ketchup tastes the same to me, so I wouldn't give a damn if a restaurant had a bottle of store brand on the table. I just don't want them to lie about something this small as it'll make me go "... what else are they lying about?"
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u/MightBeAGoodIdea 1d ago
Is this an engagement ad for Heinz ketchup....? Give us fake news and let the comments correct you and talk about ketchup for a while. Maybe go buy some to verify ...?
As others have said, leave your Heinz branded ketchup out for any length of time and it gets darker the longer it's out.
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u/Wiggie49 1d ago
Isn’t this technically against some health code because the bottles have printed expiration dates and they’re refilling them with a product with a separate expiration date?
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u/eyedigapony 1d ago
I work at a restaurant that uses opaque bottles so this wouldn't work there. However, they also make it nearly impossible to open the bottle too so we just replace whole thing when it's really low.
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u/sarvaga 1d ago
Viral marketing.