A shortage of ketchup in the US, caused by changing consumption habits due to the coronavirus pandemic, forced the Kraft Heinz company to increase its production by 25%.
As reported by local media USA Today on Tuesday, the company had to add production lines that would allow the final number of ketchup envelopes to reach 12 billion in a year.
Kraft Heinz responded to information released Monday by the New York Wall Street Journal, which pointed out that some of the largest fast food chains in the United States, such as Long John Silver, in nearly 700 units across the country or The Texas Roadhouse , of more than 630 restaurants, is facing a deficit.
Heinz, which dominates more than 70 percent of the U.S. spice market, has seen demand for ketchup packages rising since the beginning of the pandemic, as all restaurants that offer glass tomato sauce on tables at their units rotate to small doses to provide only food at home or at home.
Steve Cornell, a representative for Kraft Heinz, explained that the company “made strategic manufacturing investments at the onset of the pandemic to keep up with the demand for ketchup packages accelerated by home delivery or takeover trends.”
Added to this is the fact that customers who now decide to stay in restaurants to eat also use the envelopes, as part of the recommendations of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Avoid using or sharing reusable items, such as menus, spices, or any other food packaging,” says the CDC, which calls for the use of disposable or digital menus or single-serving spices.