McDonald’s Ketchup Won’t Taste Different After Heinz Breakup


Will McDonald’s ketchup taste different after Heinz?

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, McDonald’s ketchup was served up by Heinz for 40 years, but their business relationship just ended.

The decision to drop Heinz for its McDonald’s ketchup came after a management change in the Heinz corporation. Bernardo Hees now runs Heinz, but he’s also the vice chairman of McDonald’s arch-nemesis Burger King and a partner at 3G Capital, which bought up Burger King in 2010.

Becca Hary, McDonald’s director of global media relations, claims the McDonald’s ketchup won’t taste any different:

“We only used Heinz in the Minneapolis and Pittsburgh markets in the U.S. Globally, Heinz represents a small percentage of McDonald’s condiment and sauce business.”

This isn’t the first time Heinz hasn’t produced any McDonald’s ketchup. During the 1970’s, Heinz made almost all of the McDonald’s ketchup, but in 1973, a tomato shortage caused Heinz to give glass bottle customers priority over fast food restaurants like McDonald’s. They responded by dropping Heinz.

Heinz sells over 569 million pounds of its famous ketchup in various forms and McDonald’s ketchup apparently is only a small percentage of that amount. Now, even more of the McDonald’s ketchup will now be produced in-house. It’s possible the Heinz expansion into overseas markets might be harmed by this decision, though.

Speaking of which, if you’re a world traveler, you might have noticed McDonald’s ketchup tastes different in other countries and regions. This is actually intentional. McDonald’s ketchup is localized based upon the taste preferences of the region, so McDonald’s ketchup may be different, even several miles over the French or German border. Other companies do the same. For example, Coke tastes different in other countries, and there’s a rumor that coke also tastes different at McDonald’s, due to a “syrup-to-carbonation ratio unique to McDonald’s.”

Do you prefer Heinz for your McDonald’s ketchup or would your prefer another brand?

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