For those who were born after the third millennium, you probably didn’t know this but a purple ketchup did exist. Heinz rolled out its Funky Purple ketchup in EZ Squirt bottles in 2001. You might think it’s not a big deal because Heinz has released wacky innovations such as Mayochup, Kranch, and Mayomust. But 18 years ago, it was a big deal. Unfortunately, the Heinz Purple Ketchup received an overwhelming backlash from the consumers. Although the product sold millions of bottles during its first years, it didn’t live up the following years. As sales continue to fall flat, the company decided to pull it out from the market in 2006.
And we’ve never heard about Heinz Purple Ketchup since then. But why did this innovative condiment fail? Heinz came up with the idea of a kid-friendly ketchup that will add more colors to their plates. Moms quickly rushed to the supermarkets to grab one of these. True enough, pouring a new color onto their plate made dinnertime more fun for the kids. Kids seemed to enjoy the new-colored ketchup and would even take the pleasure of squirting it on their food. But then, kids started to ask, “Is this ketchup made from purple tomatoes?”
So, moms later realized that the ketchup factory has to tweak the natural ingredients just to change colors. This also means using enormous amounts of artificial coloring and flavor enhancers. And that doesn’t sound healthy and safe at all. Moms resorted back to the regular red ketchup to educate their kids that there’s no such thing as purple tomato. And many moms believed that the product will only mislead their kids into thinking such fallacy. This eventually led to the demise of the Heinz Purple Ketchup.
However, a certain Twitter user might be able to revive the short-lived condiment. Last year, Jenna Rose Burkert tweeted “Another year older, another year I wish they made purple ketchup again.”, followed by the official Heinz tag. Much to Jenna’s surprise, the company responded by posting a new packaging of the Heinz Purple Ketchup. Is this a hint for a comeback?
There were no further confirmations from the company just yet. And we’re not quite sure if they really meant the tweet or not. But there are reasons why Heinz should bring it back. In this era of Instagram and Twitter, putting a new color on usual meals is destined to create a trend. People these days are more adventurous and would try almost anything for the sake of experience. So, ditching the usual ketchup for a new wacky-colored one won’t be a problem. If Heinz decides to roll this out again, millennials and even 90’s kids who dearly miss it, will definitely rejoice.