Planting
1Our tomato farming starts at home. 100% of tomatoes that end up in U.S. HEINZ Ketchup bottles come from tomato plants that were planted on U.S. soil.
Harvesting
2All of our HEINZ tomatoes ripen on the vine until they’re picked at peak maturity, when the field is 95% red. This gives the tomatoes more sweetness, and minimizes the number of tomatoes that are not up to our standards.
Transporting
3HEINZ tomato fields are all within 30 miles of our paste plants, which means that our tomatoes are thoroughly washed and put into processing within 4 hours of harvesting the tomatoes.
Selection
495% of HEINZ tomatoes are perfectly ripe when they leave the field, but we further sort them so that only the best tomatoes go into our ketchup. To minimize waste, we use the less-perfect ones as feed or compost.
Scalding
5Our scalding process flash-cooks our tomatoes at 205º to release the full flavor of the tomato pulp and juices.
Extraction
6Once we’ve strained the thick, juicy tomato pulp, the extracted seeds and skins are recycled and used as livestock feed. Nothing goes to waste.
Evaporation
7What do you get when you take that thick, flavorful pulp and remove the water? A tomato paste that’s even thicker, sweeter, and more flavorful than the original tomato juice.
Sanitation
8To survive the cross-country journey to our ketchup factories, our paste goes through a rigorous sterilization process, which allows us to transport without losing any of that fresh flavor.
Bottling
9Just a few more ketchup ingredients, our secret blend of spices and you get the thick, rich HEINZ Ketchup loved by generations – ready for the bottle and your dinner table.