Heinz Company

Date Founded: 1869

Industry: Food

Corporate Headquarters: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Type: Public

The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company manufactures a diverse line of food products and markets them in nearly two hundred countries.

Heinz’s brands include Heinz Ketchup, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, Classico sauces, ABC Soy Sauce, Bagel Bites, Delimix Mexican snacks, Heinz Beanz, and Ore Ida frozen potato products, among others.

In June 2013, Heinz was taken private by noted investor Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital in a $28 billion leveraged buyout deal. Backed by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, H. J. Heinz merged with Kraft Foods Group in July 2015 to create the third-largest North American food company and the fifth-largest food company in the world.

Before the merger was completed, Heinz reported net revenues of $2.47 for the first quarter of 2015. Heinz was placed 96th among the World’s Most Valuable Brands in Forbes' 2014 list. The pre-merger company also ranked 30th in Forbes’s 2014 list of America’s Largest Private Companies with sales of $11.6 billion. After the merger, the new Kraft Heinz company saw yearly revenues averaging approximately $26.5 billion. It was ranked among the largest public companies globally, and also consistently featured on Forbes listings including the top-regarded companies and the world's best employers.

In the 2020s, Kraft Heinz was headquartered in Pittsburgh and Chicago and continued its dominance in the global foods industry. In 2021, Kraft Heinz had a total net sales of $26 billion and employed 36,000 employees in over 40 countries. In 2022, it rank 139th on the Fortune 500 list of the most profitable companies by revenue.

History

H. J. Heinz traces its origins to founder Henry John Heinz’s childhood business venture of packing foodstuff, which he started in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. The business, started by the 8-year-old, grew steadily, and by the time he was 16, Heinz had several employees. After graduating from Duff’s Business College, he became a bookkeeper at his father’s brickyard and went on to become a partner at the age of 21. In 1869, Heinz and L.C. Noble formed a partnership called Heinz, Noble & Co in Sharpsburg to sell bottled horseradish.

The business failed in 1875 due to adverse economic conditions, but Heinz was quick to regroup and form F & J Heinz the following year to manufacture condiments, pickles, and other prepared food. The company had Heinz as manager, with his brother John and cousin Frederic as partners. The product line soon expanded to include sauerkraut, vinegar, and pickles. The phenomenal popularity of the company’s pickles earned Henry the nickname "the Pickle Man."

H. J. Heinz was incorporated in 1905; Heinz served as its first president, a position he held for the rest of his life. Heinz introduced processes for hygienic production and supported the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, which was opposed by many food manufacturers. His advocacy for the passage of the act won consumers’ trust and confidence in the company’s products.

Heinz also offered factory tours to showcase the safety and cleanliness of his manufacturing process; visitors could also sample the products during the tour. Heinz was also considerate toward workers and provided comfortable working conditions for them. Managers, too, were asked to listen to workers’ concerns. During his tenure at the company, Heinz’s workers never had to resort to a strike.

When Henry Heinz died at age 75 in 1919, the company had 6,500 employees and operated twenty-five branch factories. Henry’s son Howard became president of the company after Henry’s death. Howard had started out at the company as an advertising manager in 1905. He steered the company ably through the difficult years of the Great Depression, branching into two new areas: ready-to-eat soups and baby food. In 1939, Fortune magazine estimated the total sales of the company, which was still privately held, at $105 million. Heinz made its first stock offering in 1946, revealing a net profit of over $4 million.

The company expanded rapidly, both internationally and at home, after it went public, launching subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Venezuela, Japan, Italy, and Portugal. At home, Heinz acquired the assets of Reymer & Bros. and Hachmeister, Inc. Heinz acquired StarKist Foods in 1963 and Ore-Ida Foods in 1965.

In 1975 Heinz acquired Hubinger Company, a manufacturer of high-fructose corn syrup, and in 1978 acquired Weight Watchers International.

In 1982, Heinz became the first foreign investor in Zimbabwe, with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Olivine Industries, Inc., and also formed joint ventures in Korea and China. In 1987 Heinz acquired a controlling interest in Win-Chance Foods of Thailand, a producer of baby food and milk products.

In December 1994, Heinz acquired the All American Gourmet Company, maker of the Budget Gourmet line of frozen meals, from Kraft General Foods in a $200 million deal. In 1996 Heinz acquired Boulder, Colorado-based Earth’s Best, a maker of organic baby food, and in June 1997, bought John West Foods Limited, the leading brand of canned tuna and fish in the UK, from Unilever.

Among more notable later acquisitions was Heinz’s acquisition of the frozen food business of U.K.-based United Biscuits PLC for $317 million, a maker of frozen desserts, pizzas, potato products, and vegetarian/meat-free items. The company also sold several businesses in the early 2000s, including Del Monte Food Company and StarKist. It acquired Australia's Golden Circle food and beverage manufacturer in 2008. In 2017 the merged Kraft Heinz company made a takeover bid for larger rival Unilever, though the deal was aborted after undergoing regulatory scrutiny. In 2022, Kraft Heinz completed the acquisition of a Brazilian food company that specialized in condiments and sauces.

Impact

Advertising has been one of the key drivers of H.J. Heinz’s success over the decades. Founder Henry Heinz had a genius for connecting with consumers, which is perhaps amply reflected in the "57 varieties" phrase he coined, which was used in the company’s famous slogan "57 varieties of Heinz." In 1892, Heinz actually had over sixty products, but he correctly considered fifty-seven to be more memorable. In 1900, Henry also produced New York’s first illuminated advertising sign: a 40-foot pickle jar. The tradition of excellence in advertising continued into the twenty-first century. In 2001, the company bought naming rights to a new home stadium for the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, which became known as Heinz Field. In 2012, "Beanz Means Heinz," the slogan used in a 1967 TV commercial, was named the top slogan of all time in a poll by Creative Design magazine.

Heinz has also won much acclaim and recognition for its sustainability and other social welfare initiatives. Heinz was placed in the Top 10 best corporate citizens in the Consumer Staples sector by Corporate Responsibility magazine. Heinz was rated Bronze class as a DJSI world member and as a sustainability leader in North America. Heinz was recognized in the Newsweek Green Rankings in the Top 500 companies and a top ten most transparent company in 2012. Each year the Heinz Family Foundation, founded in honor of Senator John Heinz, who was killed in a 1991 plane crash, distributes its Heinz Awards to individuals who have made achievements in the arts, economy, and environment.

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