Yes, Virginia, Heinz Makes Organic Ketchup

Several times in recent cooking lessons my plea to have moms replace conventional ketchup with organic has been answered with a “But my kids will only eat Heinz!”

Fair enough; brand loyalty (marketing?) can be very persuasive. Heinz, fully understanding this, makes organic ketchup.

(Why purchase organic ketchup in the first place? Organic tomato products contain three times more of the antioxidant lycopene than conventional tomato products and are devoid of the harmful pesticides used on the majority of non-organic tomatoes.)

Some are surprised to learn that Heinz is in the organic ketchup game and that I advocate buying big, bad Heinz instead of smaller organic brands such as Organicville or Annie’s.

First, Heinz isn’t stupid. Retaining and capturing market share, whether through its own label or by buying smaller organic companies, equals more profits. Take a look at the chart below to see the host of smaller organic food companies that have been bought by the huge multinationals. (Chart courtesy of Philip Howard, a professor at Michigan State; click for more detail.)

Second, getting our kids to eat organic ketchup instead of conventional is a win on so many levels (the health of our children, soil, water supply, etc.), no matter what the brand.