Heinz Reveals the Best Angle for Pouring Ketchup

Thick ketchup in a puddle by a hot serving of fries is about as close to heaven as you can get. But why is it so hard to get the stuff to come out of the bottle?

Photo Credit: Flickr

This is the question ketchup lovers have been asking for about 150 years.

Folks, we may finally have the answer—and from Canada, no less.

Thank you, neighbor. We owe you one.

This issue is the angle of the bottle. To illustrate the solution to consumers, Heinz Canada and creative group Rethink Canada distributed Heinz Ketchup bottles with oddly placed labels. When consumers turned the bottle so the label was right side up, the bottle aligned with the perfect angle at which to pour the tangy condiment.

Watch the video below for a demonstration:

Brian Neumann, senior brand manager at Kraft Heinz Canada, told AdAge Magazine:

This year, we have focused our marketing on reinforcing the emotional connection fans have with the brand in clever and ownable ways. We’re always thinking of fun, cheeky ways we can highlight the iconic and timeless nature of the product to give our consumers a smile.

Fun and cheeky is the perfect description of their effort to show us the best way to get to Heinz’s tomatoey goodness – and it’s also what we in the south think of our northerly neighbors.

Now, for the bad news. The helpful bottles are in limited production…i.e. only for Toronto.

Photo Credit: Pexels

But one of the foodie nerds at Food & Wine hacked that. Go run and get your protractor (I think I mentioned “nerd.”) and tip your bottle somewhere between a 35 and 45 degree angle. Make sure to verify the measurement because that is the sweet-ketchup-spot for optimum pouring performance.

Here is my hack on their hack: Paint the protractor red, write your name on it and decorate with stickers. Fasten the loop piece of Velcro on one side of the protractor and the hook piece inside your cabinet door. Hang your customized protractor inside the cabinet. Your very own scientific ketchup pouring angle indicator will be ready whenever you need it.

As they say in some parts of Canada, “Voila!”