Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
For Heinz ketchup, nothing is more important than tomatoes. But some of those tomatoes are in peril from climate change.
The tomatoes used in Heinz ketchup are a point of pride. The company has spent more than 150 years evolving the fruit.
Ketchup tomatoes are not the same as grocery-store tomatoes: they have little juice and a more saturated red colour. They are mashed into a paste and turned into ketchup.
California grows all of the tomatoes for Heinz ketchup that is sold in the US. But the state just experienced its hottest July ever. The harvest season will not be completed until mid-October, when Kraft Heinz researchers will find out how their fruit fared in the summer’s extreme heat. Yield will almost certainly be hit.
For Heinz, they will continue research for tomato breeds that can handle high temperatures.
Answer: Ketchup tomatoes have less juice and a more saturated red colour.
