Dip & Squeeze

A Dip & Squeeze container obtained from a fast food restaurant in the Seattle area

Dip & Squeeze is the brand name of a type of packaging for tomato ketchup used by Heinz Tomato Ketchup. The product was announced in 2010 and rolled out to consumers at U.S. fast food restaurants in March, 2011.[1] Later in 2011 it was sold directly to retail consumers at Target and Wal-Mart.[2]

The packaging won the National Restaurant Association Food and Beverage Product Innovations Award in 2011.[3] It won the 23rd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation silver award in 2011.[4][5]

A laser-scored tip and plastic seal over a thermoformed tub allow a consumer to either pinch off the top and squeeze out the contents, or to rip off the seal and dip into the ketchup.[5][6]

It was designed to be easier to use one-handed inside a car. Product developers watched consumers operate the traditional ketchup packet through one-way mirrors to evaluate new ketchup packaging designs. Heinz's vice president in charge of the packaging division himself bought a used minivan and tested the company's products delivered at fast food drive-up windows.[7][8]

A Chick-Fil-A executive said that some consumers at the chain were hoarding the packets after they were introduced.[7]

Lawsuits

The packaging was the subject of a patent lawsuit brought by David Wawrzynski, a Detroit businessperson who claims to have shown a similar prototype to Heinz executives in 2008.[9] A 2012 judgment in favor of Heinz was vacated in 2014,[10] and a jury finally found that Heinz did not owe Wawrzynski damages in April 2015.[11]

Another suit was filed by a Chicago inventor, Scott White, in 2012.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "Heinz Ketchup Unveils Product & Packaging Innovations", Canadian Packaging, February 16, 2010
  2. ↑ Paul J. Gough (September 19, 2011), "Heinz sells Dip & Squeeze at Wal-Mart, Target", Pittsburgh Business Times
  3. ↑ Inaugural Food & Beverage Product Innovations Award recipients announced, National Restaurant Association, April 21, 2011
  4. ↑ Kevin T. Higgins (September 1, 2011), "From leader to laggard", Food Engineering
  5. 1 2 ""Heinz shares Dupont Packaging Award with Multivac Inc., who engineered and integrated a 1,500-units-a-minute rollstock machine with a Hinds-Bock filler."", Food Engineering: 20–22, September 2011
  6. ↑ Farmer, Neil (2013), Trends in Packaging of Food, Beverages and Other Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG): Markets, Materials and Technologies, Elsevier, p. 93, ISBN 9780857098979
  7. 1 2 Sarah Nassauer; Timothy W. Martin; Julie Jargon (September 19, 2011), "Old Ketchup Packet Heads for Trash–Heinz 'Dip and Squeeze' Container Aims to Conquer a Major Frustration of Chowing Down in Transit", The Wall Street Journal
  8. ↑ Jesko Perrey; Tjark Freundt; Dennis Spillecke (2015), Power Brands: Measuring, Making, and Managing Brand Success, Wiley, p. 109, ISBN 9783527507818
  9. ↑ "Heinz ketchup packs have Michigan inventor seeing red", Detroit Free Press, October 26, 2010 – via USA Today
  10. ↑ Justine Coyne (July 23, 2014), "Inventor's lawsuit against Heinz over Dip & Squeeze package revived", Pittsburgh Business Times
  11. ↑ Benjamin Snyder (April 2, 2015), "Jury: Heinz didn't steal the most amazing innovation in ketchup history", Fortune
  12. ↑ "Chicago Man Sues Heinz, Says It Stole His Patent for Ketchup Packets" (Streaming video), Nightline, ABC News, August 21, 2012
  13. ↑ Julie Jargon (August 16, 2012), "Heinz Sued Over 'Dip & Squeeze'", The Wall Street Journal


External links

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