“Heinz no longer allowed to sell ketchup in IsraelIn France, Heinz is nearly synonymous with ketchup, but Israel has decided to stop the brand calling its product ketchup”, in favour of tomato seasoning. Heinz’s top local competition.
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The ruling came after competitor Osem, an Israeli food manufacturer which produces much of the ketchup consumed in the country, executed a lobbying campaign against Heinz.
Diplomat, the company distributing Heinz, – which stands at second place in terms of sales compared to Osem – snubbed Osem’s claims as “having no substance” whilst adding: “Obviously, Osem, which has a monopoly, would be happy if it were only possible to sell their product in Israel”. It will now be relegated to the title “tomato seasoning”, Ynet reported.
“The word ketchup is indicated in English on the front of the bottle… the back label of our ketchup sold in Israel reflects current local requirements for ingredient labelling and the Hebrew name for the product”.
Diplomat, the company which distributes Heinz in Israel, was quick to dismiss the claims.
Before you panic, Heinz in America is still called ketchup, but in Israel it’s a different story. We understand that consumers’ organisations strongly object the proposed change as lowering the required tomato percentage means more sugar and salt in ketchup.
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Mashable reached out to both Heinz and Osem but received no comment at the time of publication.
