 | | Nicole Seese squeezes the new 'Stellar Blue' ketchup by Heinz, over her onion rings |
Blue cheese, blueberries and chicken cordon bleu - but blue ketchup? The H.J. Heinz Co., which has sold the condiment in red, green, purple, pink and orange, is adding blue to its palette. The company unveiled Heinz EZ Squirt "Stellar Blue" on Monday, just in time for spring and summer - hot seasons for condiments. Christine McCracken, an analyst with Midwest Research, said she is not surprised Heinz would introduce a new color, based on the other colors' incremental success. "There's probably some cannibalization of existing products. If you're going to buy blue ketchup, you might not buy traditional ketchup," McCracken said. Heinz produced 1 million rainbow-colored, mystery bottles last year. Consumers who bought the ketchup didn't know, until they squirted it on a burger whether they got pink, orange or teal. The company hoped customers' reactions would help it decide its next hue, but no one color became a front runner. Instead, customers called for blue, Heinz spokesman Robin Teets said. There's no telling what shade ketchup will take next, but the company keeps an eye on ideas from customers - especially those who get a kick out of weird-colored food. "It's not mom and dad's ketchup," Teets said. "If parents think it's a little strange, that's all the better for kids."
(Agencies) | 藍色奶酪、藍莓、法國藍帶雞胸--藍色番茄醬？亨氏食品公司已經推出了紅色、紫色、粉紅和橙色的調味醬，而現在，他們的調色盤中又增添了一筆：藍色。4月7日，該公司的新產品EZ系列"藍色恒星"番茄醬正式登場，剛好趕上春夏番茄醬熱賣的季節。 中西研究所分析師克里斯蒂娜·麥克拉肯表示，對于亨氏又推出一種新的彩色番茄醬，她一點都不驚訝，因為現有的彩色醬銷量都非常好。 她說："當然新的顏色會從現有顏色的消費群中分一小杯羹。如果你買了藍色番茄醬，也許就不買傳統顏色的了。" 去年一年亨氏公司生產了100萬彩虹神秘瓶番茄醬。顧客買的時候并不知道瓶子里裝的是什么顏色的番茄醬，直到抹上餡餅時才會發現那是粉紅、橙色還是藍綠色。亨氏希望由顧客對此的反應來決定哪種顏色該唱主角。但公司發言人羅賓·蒂滋說，沒有一種顏色能夠脫穎而出，相反地，顧客們普遍期待藍色番茄醬的誕生。 目前還不知道亨氏下一步會推出什么色調的番茄醬，但公司強調將始終以顧客們的需求為本--尤其是那些喜歡從繽紛色彩中體驗超凡感受的人們。 蒂滋還說："這不是為父母們準備的番茄醬。如果他們覺得顏色古怪的話，他們的孩子也許正是這些產品的忠實消費者。" （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-04-14 01:00
