As consumers in the United States we most often hear about domestic companies branching out into international markets. Well, here is a story of a domestically-based, multinational company bringing one of its most successful brands abroad to our shores. The H.J. Heinz Company has been entrenched firmly in the United Kingdom for over one hundred years. Known for tomato ketchup here in the states, the company’s star product by far is baked beans. Company records indicate that the first can of Heinz baked beans or “Heinz Beanz” as it is better known to the Brits was sold in London in 1901. In 1967 the now famous marketing slogan ‘Beanz Meanz Heinz was coined and recently was voted best slogans of all time.[1] Also in 1967, British rock band The Who released their second album The Who Sell Out. On the cover of the album is a picture of lead singer Roger Daltrey in a bathtub filled with Heinz Beanz along with him holding an oversized can of them. In an interview with the BBC in 2009, Daltrey commented that he caught pneumonia from prolonged sitting in the tub of cold beans.[2] In 1998, Heinz Beanz was selected as one of the best brands to represent the final ten years of the millennium and in 2005 the British public voted the beans the ‘Most Loved Brand’. Today approximately 2 million cans of the beans are filled and, according to a Nielsen study, over one million cans of Heinz Beanz are consumed each day in the UK.[3] Continuing a tradition of innovation that has been referenced a couple of times in this learning journal, Heinz UK introduced the Beanz in a 1 kilogram resealable plastic Fridge Pack in 2010 which allows consumers to eat as much or as little of the beans as they would like in a sitting and easily refrigerate the unused portion for later.[4]
It's not the Rolling Stones, but it will do. source: wikipedia.org
As for the United States, Heinz version of baked beans just hasn’t had the presence. If you look hard enough you can find a vegetarian version which caters to Kosher and other niche markets (like my mother who can’t get enough of them). According to company records, Heinz produced several flavors of baked beans in the 1950’s through the 1970’s, but then that “sort of went away”, according to Noel Geoffroy, vice president Heinz Brands/U.S. Consumer products.[5] But now they are back. The company is introducing the baked beans under the popular Homestyle line of products (i.e., gravy with no lumps) in traditional flavors such as brown sugar and bacon, molasses and pork, maple, and Chipotle BBQ, which is my favorite. The beans will be produced in an existing bean plant in Ontario, Canada and shipped to the United States.
'BEANZ' are king in the U.K.! source: http://www.heinz.co.uk/
So why does Heinz feel like returning to the United State baked bean market? Research has indicated that the recent economic downturn has consumers trending towards traditional, inexpensive “comfort foods” like baked beans. Heinz bringing its century-old expertise with beans into the country at this time of uncertainty could be just what consumers who are either loyal or familiar with the brand are looking for. Currently, the leader of the United States $530 million bean market is Tennessee-based Bush Brothers & Co, according to SymphonyIRI Group.[6] I believe that Heinz greatest challenge will be to get consumers to first consider their brand and then make the switch. Most of my acquaintances are Bush’s baked bean fans and although they will humor me by trying the Heinz brand, ultimately their pallets and wallets will make the decision.
source: http://www.post-gazette.com/
[1] http://www.heinz.co.uk/ourfood/beans/didyouknow
[2] Savage, Mark. “Roger Daltrey’s concert conundrum” BBC News. March 21, 2009 (accessed January 25, 2012), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7951056.stm.
[3] TNS & AC Nielsen data, 2009
[4] http://www.heinz.co.uk/ourfood/beans/heinzbeanz/beanz-fridge-pack
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