It’s a well known fact that the most popular ketchup in America is Heinz.
Well, in Canada, a new threat to Heinz has emerged and it’s not Hunt’s or Del Monte. It’s French’s ketchup.
Better known for its mustard (No. 1 in the US marketplace), French’s could also soon be Canada’s No. 1 ketchup, because of one Facebook post.
About a week ago, Facebook user and Orillia resident Brian Fernandez posted his love for French’s ketchup primarily for its use of Canadian tomatoes, which coincidentally come from a plant that Heinz closed and was reopened by another company, Highbury Canco Corp.
Brian Fernandez has also praised French’s taste and its use of natural ingredients.
This one post has now spread from Facebook, to Twitter, and now the mainstream media and blogs.
Over 200 news stories and blogs have been written on the subject so far. As for Twitter, there are now thousands of tweets in support of French’s ketchup.
And as people from other countries who support the concept of locally sourced food hear about this on Facebook, Twitter and the mainstream news, it should be both a cause for concern for Heinz and possible opportunity for other ketchup producers to dethrone the most popular ketchup brand in America.
After all, Heinz, which has recently announced facility closures in Canada, should remember the damage caused to United Airlines when that company broke the guitar of musician Dave Carroll.
His YouTube video went viral partly because of simmering consumer discontent with the airline brand.
And while there isn’t a similar level of dissatisfaction with Heinz in Canada, the juxtaposition between Heinz and French’s (which, via Highbury Canco Corp., has begun using the old Heinz plant to produce its ketchup) couldn’t be more clear.
