Review of Ketchup, a brand war

I have not written a brand war in quite some time, simply because I haven’t thought of anything that was worthy of comparisons. Then there’s ketchup. I love ketchup. Ketchup goes on my burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheeses, and any meat that is not cooked to my liking.

Since I have been eating ketchup all my life, this brand war is a bit difficult, because the taste of Ketchup is the taste of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.  I’m trying very hard not to discriminate and will solely be describing the flavours.

President’s Choice Tomato Ketchup

This PC ketchup is always around 50 cents cheaper than Heinz when no specials are on. President’s Choice is a Loblaws company brand that typically manages to execute copied recipes very very well. The President’s choice ketchup does not quite hit the mark on taste. Although the ketchup lists the very same ingredients as Heinz, the flavour is a tad more bitter with less sweetness. I am guessing this means less vinegar and more sugar, but there’s some sort of odd after taste that reminds me of cloves for some reason. The exact listed ingredients are: Tomato paste, (made from fresh ripe tomatoes) liquid sugar, white vinegar, salt, seasonings. While the PC ketchup is not horrible, I won’t be buying it again, at 50 cents cheaper than Heinz.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup

The Heinz tomato ketchup seems to have the perfect balance of vinegar and sugar, which makes it quite irresistible to me. Its exact ingredients are: Tomato Concentrate From Red Ripe Tomatoes, Distilled Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, Onion Powder, Spice, Natural Flavoring. Perhaps it is the added quality of their ingredients, and the fact that Heinz grows its own tomatoes to make its ketchup, but the taste of Heinz is rather imprinted in my taste buds as how ketchup is supposed to taste. Buying the other brands for this brand war has been difficult, because we’ve had to finish the ketchups from the other brands. Also, the Heinz ketchup website has a widget where you can squeeze a ketchup email to a friend. Try it here.

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Great Value tomato Ketchup

Walmart has its very own brand of Ketchup as well. The Great Value Ketchup is the cheapest of the three in this brand war. The Great Value ketchup differs the most in its ingredients: Tomato Concentrate, Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Salt, Onion Powder, Spice, Natural Flavoring. It is much less healthy than the other two brands, however, I will say that the Great Value ketchup had a better taste than the President’s choice. I was the most skeptical about this brand, but after tasting it, I am more reluctant to try other ‘great value’ products. The difference for this one, is that it tastes a bit sweeter than the Heinz, which is likely attributable to the high fructose corn syrup. If you’re on a budget, then I’d recommend the great value ketchup since it is so far the closest taste to the real deal.

This brand war is slightly skewed, because I’m comparing the two different brands to the Heinz taste. I will say that the Walmart Great Value ketchup was much better than the president’s choice ketchup, which shocked me. It is much cheaper. Unless I’m on a tight budget I will keep buying Heinz, but it’s nice to know that I have options if the case were otherwise.

What do you put ketchup on?

~Darleya~