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 claimed 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]
^Kevin T. Higgins (September 1, 2011), "From leader to laggard", Food Engineering, archived from the original on December 11, 2019, retrieved November 9, 2016
