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H. J. Heinz Company

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H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE: [HNZ]), commonly known as just Heinz, famous for both its "57 Varieties" slogan and its British commercial jingle "Beanz Meanz Heinz", was founded in 1869 by Henry John Heinz in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Heinz, then 25 years old, began by delivering processed condiments to local grocers by horse-drawn wagon. The company's first product was horseradish, followed by pickles, sauerkraut, and vinegar.

The company was initially named the Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works, and was run by Heinz and partner L. C. Noble. The name changed to Heinz, Noble & Company in 1872 when E. J. Noble joined on and the company relocated to nearby Pittsburgh.

After a banking panic forced him into bankruptcy in 1875, Heinz restarted his business with the help of his brother John and his cousin Frederick, and in and the following year they introduced what would become its most well-known product: tomato ketchup. The new company was known as F. & J. Heinz until 1888, when Henry bought controlling interest from his brother and gave the business its current name.

New and old versions of the brand
Enlarge
New and old versions of the brand

The company's famous slogan, "57 Varieties", was chosen by Henry Heinz in 1892 after he saw an advertisement for "21 varieties of shoes" in an elevated train car in New York. In actuality, the company was producing over sixty different products at the time, but Heinz chose the number 57 for what his biographer called "occult" reasons.

Another famous slogan is "Beanz Meanz Heinz", used in the 1960s and beyond to advertise their baked beans in the United Kingdom. Variations of this slogan were used over time, such as "A million housewives a day pick up a tin of Beans and say, Beanz Meanz Heinz", or "Don't be mean with the Beans Mum, Beanz Meanz Heinz". In the late-1990s the slogan was changed to "Heinz Buildz Britz", but after a surprise decline in sales, the slogan was quickly reverted back. In recent years, however, the slogan has been used much less. In 2004 they started spelling "Baked Beanz" with a "z" on their beanz, which is seen as a reminder of the slogan.

In 1919 Henry Heinz died, and control of the company passed to his son, Howard Heinz, who was then succeeded by H. J. Heinz II in 1941. By 1972, sales had reached the billion dollar mark. Today, Heinz sells more than 1,300 products worldwide ranging from ketchup to baby food and canned seafood.

H. J. Heinz II's son was United States Senator from Pennsylvania John Heinz, who died in a plane crash on April 4, 1991. His widow, Teresa married U.S. Senator from Massachusetts John Kerry in 1995. Kerry ran unsuccessfully for President in 2004. Thanks to Teresa Heinz Kerry, the 2004 presidential campaign gave the Heinz Company considerable publicity.

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\"57 Varieties\"

Heinz's slogan for over a century has been "57 Varieties" even though when it was established Heinz had over 60 products. Snopes.com notes:
It was in 1896 that Henry Heinz came up with ["57 Varieties" slogan]. This catch phrase had nothing to do with the actual number of varieties produced by H. J. Heinz, though, which by then totalled over 60 (including plum pudding, strawberry preserve, India relish, olive oil, spaghetti, euchred pickle, currant jelly, chili sauce, peanut butter, and celery soup). Rather, Heinz was riding an elevated train in New York when he spied an advertising placard in the train car promoting "21 styles" of shoes; struck by the concept, and recognizing that catchiness and Heinz resonance were far more important qualities for a company slogan than literal accuracy, Heinz cast about for the perfect number to use for his own company's version of the phrase. Settling on fifty-seven, Heinz soon put the number to work, and within a week the sign of the green Heinz pickle bearing the words "57 Varieties" was everywhere Heinz "could find a place to stick it." He soon ordered the construction of a six-story, twelve-hundred-light display featuring a forty-foot pickle; installed at the intersection of 5th Avenue (Manhattan) and 23rd Street (Manhattan) in New York City, this electric marvel dazzled New York residents and tourists until 1906. [link]
It is also believed that Henry Heinz was a freemason, and 57 was a sacred number of the occult.

Trivia

In 2004, Argentine football player Gabriel Heinze, upon signing for Manchester United, chose 57 as his squad number for the season, but was later convinced to change it to the more conventional 4. NHL Player Steve Heinze also used the number.

On the cover of The Who's record "The Who Sell Out", singer Roger Daltrey is shown immersed in a tub of Heinz's baked beans. Daltrey allegedly contracted pneumonia as a result.

In 2001 the Food Standards Agency of the Government of the United Kingdom found contamination in Heinz canned baked beans products with the hormone disruptor bisphenol [link].

Heinz paid $57 million for naming rights to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where it has its headquarters.

Tapping the 57 circle on the neck label of the Heinz Ketchup bottle with the heel of your hand causes the notoriously sluggish Ketchup to flow out of the bottle.

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of the corporation are: Charles Bunch, Mary Choksi, Leonard Coleman, Peter Coors, Edith Holiday, William R. Johnson, Candace Kendle, Dean O'Hare, Lynn Swann, and Thomas Usher.

Subsidiaries of HJHC

This list is [Incomplete listsincomplete]; you can help by [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ expanding it].

Internationally

Australia

In Australia, Heinz is best known for tinned Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, and Spaghetti in a similar sauce. Heinz's soup lines are not widely recognised in Australia.

Their most iconic product is Heinz BIG RED Tomato Sauce.

Philippines

In the Philippines, Heinz is a part of NutriAsia, who owns other bigger brands in the condiments industry, such as UFC (banana ketchup, tomato and spaghetti sauce), Datu Puti (vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce), Mang Tomas (gravy, barbecue sauce, oyster sauce and all-purpose sauce), Jufran(chili sauce and banana ketchup) and Papa (banana ketchup). Heinz is most famous as a brand of tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce in the country than being a tomato ketchup brand, which is being dominated by Del Monte Pacific, also recently acquired by a consortium of NutriAsia and San Miguel Corporation.

The Heinz brand is the 3rd largest tomato sauce (behind Del Monte and Hunt's) and the 2nd largest spaghetti sauce brand (behind Del Monte) in the country.

United Kingdom

In the U.K. Heinz Baked Beans is the number one most desired brand in the country. A well-known series of advertisments featured a young school boy, talking about why he likes the beans, these ads were parodied by The Goodies and Benny Hill on their TV shows in 1970s

See also

Further reading

External links

Pittsburgh-based Corporations
(Within the Pittsburgh Metro Area)
Pittsburgh-based Fortune 500 Corporations:
Alcoa | U.S. Steel | PPG | H.J. Heinz | PNC Financial | Mellon Financial | WESCO International
Pittsburgh-based Fortune 1000 Corporations:
Allegheny Energy | Consol Energy | Allegheny Technologies | Dick's Sporting Goods | Kennametal | American Eagle Outfitters | Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel | Mylan | GNC
Pittsburgh-based non-public or externally owned corporations:
84 Lumber | Bayer USA | DQE | Eat'n Park | FedEx Ground | Giant Eagle | Guru.com | Highmark | Koppers | Michael Baker | Mine Safety Appliances | NOVA Chemicals | Oxford Development | Pittsburgh Brewing Company | Rolling Rock Beer | Sarris Candies | Respironics, Inc. | Rue 21 | Telerama | Vivisimo | Wabtec

 

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