Dip & Squeeze

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]

Dip & Squeeze
Product typeKetchup
OwnerKraft Heinz
Produced byHeinz
Introduced2011 (2011)

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]

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, archived from the original on June 27, 2013, retrieved November 9, 2016
  4. Kevin T. Higgins (September 1, 2011), "From leader to laggard", Food Engineering
  5. "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. 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
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