Heinz is one of the most well loved brands all over the world. In its UK operations, Heinz’s head office is located in the area of Middlesex.

History

Heinz’s story started when L. Clarence Noble and Henry J. Heinz founded a business in 1869. These two young Americans founded “Heinz & Noble,” with its first product being “Pure and Superior Grated Horseradish,” a recipe made by Henry Heinz. This product was sold in bottled transparent glass in order to show customers the product’s purity.

In 1876, Henry Heinz founded a new company together with two of his relatives. This company was named F&J Heinz Company and Henry was appointed as manager. The company’s product, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, was launched to the US market. Ten years after the product was launched in the US, Heinz Tomato Ketchup was launched in the UK market.

In London, the company launched seven of its “newest and finest goods” and made it available in London’s most famous food store, Fortnum & Mason. In 1896, the product “Heinz 57” variety was launched. In 1910, “Heinz Cream of Tomato” was introduced to the UK market. By the 1920s, Heinz was still exporting spaghetti, tomato ketchup and baked beans from the US to the UK, as well as in Canada. Soon, operation expanded to the UK. In the first year of UK operations, 10,000 tonnes of products were produced.

In the 1940s, when the country was experiencing difficult times, Henry’s son Howard introduced baby food and ready-to-serve food to the company’s product range. In the 1940s, there was a shortage in the supply of ingredients, primarily because of the war. Because of the shortage in ingredients, the company stopped producing Heinz Tomato Sauce from 1939-1948. To make up for the loss, the company introduced Heinz Salad Cream to the market.

In 1944, the company’s Harlesden factory was bombed twice, a fact which did not stop Heinz from continuing to produce its products. In 1951, Heinz was granted The Royal Warrant by Her Majesty the Queen. Three years after, the company was again recognized when Her Majesty the Queen acknowledged it as “Purveyors of Heinz Products.”

In 1998, Heinz Beanz was chosen as one of 12 brands that best represented the millennium’s last ten years. By 1999, Heinz was considered as one of the four biggest food and beverage companies all over the world, behind Nescafe, McDonald’s and Coke.

By 2000, Heinz started to go organic with its products. Four years after, the company introduced a reduced salt Heinz Beanz. In 2008, the company launched its goals for Global Sustainability, which included the reduction of greenhouse gasses that the company’s operations emit.

Headquarters: Middlesex, UK
Ownership Type: private
Employees: information not available
Geography: worldwide
Demography: retail food products consumers

Brands
Heinz

Important links
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