Today, Heinz ketchup is a fixture in refrigerators, restaurants and grocery stores around the world. But before Henry Heinz built his famous food empire, he faced a financial collapse that left him struggling to provide for his family.
At 31, he lost his first company to bankruptcy. Rather than walk away from the food business, he started over the following year with a new company and a product that would help define his legacy.
Heinz’s journey began years earlier in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he started selling grated horseradish made from his mother’s recipe. At 25, he grew the horseradish in a garden his father had given him before bottling it for sale. While other companies used dark bottles that hid what was inside, Heinz opted for clear glass so customers could see the quality of his product.
The approach helped his business stand out. In 1869, Heinz partnered with L. Clarence Noble to establish a company selling horseradish, pickles, sauerkraut and vinegar. The business expanded quickly, and by 1875, Heinz, Noble and Company had become one of the country’s largest producers of packaged and preserved foods.
But its rapid growth came with financial risks. The company had taken on too much and was running short of cash. In 1875, it made a major commitment to purchase the entire output of 800 acres of cucumbers and cabbage in Illinois. An unusually large cucumber harvest drove up the costs of purchasing and processing the crop, putting even more pressure on the company’s finances.
At the same time, the economic downturn following the Panic of 1873 made money harder to come by. The company eventually fell behind on its bills, its Pittsburgh factory was shut down, and creditors pursued Heinz. He ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 1875.
But the business wasn’t the only thing at stake. Heinz and his wife, Sarah, struggled to provide for their young children, and the family had difficulty affording even basic necessities. Friends and relatives turned against them, while the company’s former partners blamed Heinz for its collapse.
Despite losing the business he’d built from the ground up, he was determined to give it another shot. In February 1876, he launched a new company with his brother John and cousin Frederick. Getting the business back on its feet also took help from his wife, who raised money by selling family property. Rebuilding wasn’t easy, and Heinz struggled to secure loans and buy back equipment from his former company.
That same year, he launched tomato ketchup, originally called “catsup,” using five ingredients, including sun-ripened tomatoes. The product would eventually help make Heinz a household name.
These days, Heinz Tomato Ketchup remains one of the brand’s best-known products, sold in markets around the world. The company behind it, Kraft Heinz, continues to operate as a major food manufacturer, more than 150 years after Heinz first began selling horseradish.
Related: In 1928, a Former Hershey Dairy Worker Started Making Peanut Butter Cups in His Basement; 35 Years Later, His Sons Sold Reese’s to Hershey for $23.5 Million
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