Kraft Heinz says production of its iconic condiment Heinz Ketchup to return to Canada

TORONTO – Production of Heinz Ketchup is coming back to Canada, six years after the maker of the iconic tomato condiment moved its manufacturing to the United States.

Kraft Heinz said Tuesday it will begin making ketchup at its Montreal factory next summer, following a joint investment between its Canadian subsidiary and the Quebec government.

The $17-million outlay includes a $2 million forgivable loan from the province through its business expansion program.

The project is expected to create 30 new jobs and help maintain about 750 existing positions at the company’s flagship Mont Royal facility.

The decision to move production back to Canada could potentially stoke a flare up of the so-called ketchup wars.

The clash with rival ketchup maker French’s began shortly after Heinz sold its Leamington, Ont., plant to Highbury Canco Corp. in 2014 and moved production to Fremont, Ohio.

French’s began promoting its use of tomatoes grown by Canadian farmers, and the popularity of the U.S.-based company’s ketchup soared.

Yet Av Maharaj, chief administrative officer for Kraft Heinz Canada, said his company uses more Leamington tomatoes “than the entire Canadian retail ketchup market combined” in its pasta sauces and tomato juice.

“We sold that facility to Highbury Canco and the next day we became — and still are — their largest customer,” he said in an interview.

“We signed a five-year agreement with them last year worth more than $1 billion at retail, so we still use Leamington tomatoes.”

Yet the ketchup set to be made in Montreal will use American-grown tomatoes — for now.

“It’s because of our existing contracts in the United States, and the way the growing season works and how farmers plant,” Maharaj said, noting it will be at least two years before the company could use Canadian tomatoes.

The new ketchup line is expected to produce over 45 million kilograms of Heinz Ketchup for Canadian consumers in the first two years as production ramps up.

Currently, about three out of every four bottles of ketchup sold in Canada are made by Kraft Heinz, Maharaj said.

Starting in late summer 2021, most of the Heinz Ketchup on store shelves in Canada will be made here, with the exception of some specialty varieties, he said.

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The Mont Royal manufacturing facility currently makes several products, including Kraft Peanut Butter, Renee’s Dressing, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and KD Mac & Cheese, according to the company’s website.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2020.