Why Your Heinz Ketchup Bottle Might Not Be Round For Much Longer

Ketchup is a staple fixture in British households, no matter the weather – an essential element of your rainy Friday night dinner as much as your sunny summer BBQ.

And your fave condiment (let’s be honest, does anything else topple it?), is going through a bit of a makeover at the moment.

Heinz has announced that its iconic ketchup will soon be sold in paper bottles in a bid to have less impact on the planet. 

While most of us are used to squeezing our ketchup out of a plastic bottle – or even old-school glass (and we all know the struggle of that), Heinz wants to introduce the paper counterpart as part of the company’s long-term plan to make all of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

But if you’re worrying these new bottles are going to end up a bit of a soggy mess (think paper straws), don’t worry – these folks seem to know what they’re doing.

The new offering will be made with wood pulp, in partnership with UK plant-based packaging company, Pulpex – which also created a paper bottle for whisky brand Jonnie Walker, so it’s not their first rodeo. 

The condiment specialist, which also flog us mayonnaise and salad cream, currently uses 30% recycled plastic and recycled caps in its packaging, but hopes to do better in future.

Heinz merged with the US-owned Kraft Foods in 2015 to become the Heinz Kraft company, and wants to achieve zero greenhouse emissions by the year 2050.

Miguel Patricio, Kraft Heinz CEO, said: “Packaging waste is an industry-wide challenge that we must all do our part to address.”

Patricio added that it was about offering consumers choice. If you’re a squeezy ketchup puritan (or a sucker for punishment), the plastic and glass bottles will still be available to buy in stores – at least for the foreseeable.