Henry J. Heinz

Born: 1844 | Died: 1919

Entrepreneur

Henry J. Heinz was born to German immigrant parents living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At an early age, he started helping his mother around the small backyard garden and began selling conserved horseradish at the age of 16.

In 1869, he founded the ”Heinz”-company and seven years later, “Heinz Tomato Ketchup” was introduced to the market. After his company went bankrupt six years later, Heinz went on to found “F & J Heinz” with his brother and cousin. Their first product was again tomato ketchup.

As the company kept growing, Heinz bought out his two partners in 1888, and henceforth the company carried the name “H J Heinz,” as it does to this day. In 1919, Henry Heinz died of pneumonia. At the time of his death the company had more than 20 factories and 200 smaller facilities. Heinz was the grandfather of H.J. Heinz II and great-grandfather of United States Senator John Heinz, whose ex-wife Teresa Heinz is now married to former presidential candidate John Kerry.

Until today, the success is based on the Heinz’s philosophy: “To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success." Each year, 650 million bottles of Ketchup are sold and 11 billion packets of ketchup and dressing are produced for fast food restaurants. With a yearly turnover of 8.23 billion US$, Heinz is one of the biggest food companies in the world.

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