Relishing the Past

The H.J. Heinz Company, with more than 4,000 varieties worldwide, is truly an American success story. Here is a glimpse of the colorful characters, global products, and classic promotions that transformed a mid-19th Century vegetable patch into a global business approaching $10 billion.

Henry John Heinz (1844-1919)

was a remarkable man, both ahead of his time and rooted in his time, booming post-Civil War Pittsburgh, where iron, steel and glass factories were forging industrial America. A born salesman, entrepreneur and business genius, he was also a world religious leader and man of high moral principle. As a young boy, age 12, he began to successfully peddle produce from his family's garden in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. Then, in 1869, just 25, he transformed his talent into a business. With friend and neighbor L. Clarence Noble, he launched Heinz & Noble, laying the foundation for today's global company. Its first product was Henry's mother's superior grated horseradish packed in a clear bottle to reveal its purity. (Others sold their product in colored glass to obscure cheap fillers.) The business thrived until 1875 when an overabundance of crops brought bankruptcy. Abandoned by friends and partners, Henry courageously plunged back into business with a brother and cousin, eventually discharged his debts, and built a model factory complex - regarded as a workers' utopia - along the Allegheny River on the North Side of Pittsburgh. By 1896, a youthful 52, the pickle king was a millionaire and worldwide celebrity. How did he do it?

The Early Years

The Founder's maxims were his instruments of leadership and best explain the company's unique success. His first credo, "Heart power is better than horse power," summed up his economic and spiritual philosophy. In fact, in an era when labor was generally exploited, Henry was an enlightened employer, known as the Prince of Paternalism, who motivated people by treating them well. Employees worked in conditions better than many of them lived. Women on the assembly line even received weekly manicures. Second, in an age of unscrupulous manufacturing practices, the Founder was dedicated to producing only the best. "Quality is to a product what character is to a man," he said. His ketchup (added to the product line in 1876), pickles, jams, jellies and condiments were made of the finest ingredients (never adulterated with preservatives), picked when fresh, monitored by quality standards, packed in factories so clean he invited - and invented - public tours of the Heinz Pickle Works. In fact, the company stood virtually alone within the food industry in its ten-year crusade to support passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. Third, a natural public relations and promotional wizard, the Founder believed, "It's not so much what you say, but how, when and where." He dreamt up the slogan "57 Varieties," invented the legendary "pickle pin," created the Heinz Ocean Pier and plastered the Heinz name on billboards and electric signs, in magazines and newspapers and even on hillsides. Fourth, he envisioned a global business. "Our field is the world," he said, in 1886, after making the company's first sale abroad, to London's Fortnum & Mason. By 1900 salesmen traveled to every inhabited continent - Africa, the Orient, Australia, Europe and South America - selling more than 200 Heinz products. The company expanded its manufacturing operations to the United Kingdom and Canada, and throughout the U.S., inspired by the Founder's favorite saying and philosophy, "To do a common thing uncommonly well, brings success."

Howard Heinz & the Depression

Howard Heinz, son of the Founder, led the company during 22 critical years, between 1919 and 1941. Witness to his father's bankruptcy, he refused to burden the company with debt during the speculative 1920s, and saved the company with a series of aggressive moves during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Instead of cutting back during hard times, he redoubled his attack. Invoking another one of his father's favorite sayings, "A real leader does not wait for opportunity, but makes one himself," Howard introduced two new product lines - baby food and ready- to-serve soup. He also increased advertising and promotion, and cut costs but not wages. These gutsy moves paid off. By 1937, the business had doubled. The largest selling products were: soups, strained baby foods, beans and ketchup. A thrilling orator, Howard inspired the company's growing sales force by invoking the "Spirit of the House," and its incentives for success. Hard work and loyalty were rewarded. "There isn't a man who cannot get stock (in the company) if he has the ability and character," said Howard, who also built an auditorium and theater for employees. Howard embraced science and technology. He brought chemists into the factories, agronomists into the fields, and linked the far-flung Heinz empire, which now included Australia, by international radio. In 1924, Founder's Day was simultaneously celebrated by 10,000 Heinz employees who dined together at 62 identical banquets in cities throughout the U.S., Canada, England and Scotland. They listened to the same addresses by the same speakers, including President Calvin Coolidge, linked by a new invention, shortwave radio. In 1939, the company celebrated its 70th anniversary and participated in World's Fairs in New York and San Francisco.

World War II & Post-War Expansion

In 1941, with the U.S. at war and Heinz U.K. under attack (the Harlesden factory was bombed twice), Henry John 'Jack' Heinz II, only 33, and grandson of the Founder, took over as chief executive. Heinz threw itself into the war effort, and women poured into Heinz factories. From "beans to bombers," from "pickles to pursuit planes," were the slogans. After the war, Jack Heinz sent the company public and moved Heinz advertising into the new world of television. Lila Jones, senior home economist, represented Heinz on commercials made for "Studio 57" and other programs. He also presided over its transition from family-run company to professionally-managed company and expanded international growth. A world traveler, like his father and grandfather, Jack launched post-war Heinz operations in Holland (1957), Venezuela (1960), Japan (1962) and Italy (1963). During the 1950s and 1960s, Heinz U.K. boomed, led by British devotion to Heinz baked beans and soups. It opened Kitt Green in the north of England, the largest food processing plant in Europe. Today, it turns out one million cans of soup and beans each day.

Domestic Growth & Acquisitions

In 1965, R. Burt Gookin, an accountant and professional manager who'd been with the company 20 years, became the first non-Heinz family member to be named CEO. Architect of the modern Heinz, he introduced advanced financial and management practices, restructured the company and presided over two key domestic acquisitions, StarKist (in 1963) and Ore-Ida (in 1965). Tater Tots brand potatoes from Ore-Ida are its most famous product. Introduced in 1953, Tater Tots remain one of Heinz's top sellers. In 1969, Heinz celebrated its 100th anniversary and Gookin hired a young Irishman, Tony O'Reilly, to run Heinz U.K. That year, too, "Morris the 9-Lives Cat," joined "Charlie the Tuna" on the airwaves. Both "comical critters," created by the Leo Burnett advertising agency, became media stars and made StarKist a household name. In 1978, Tony O'Reilly acquired Weight Watchers International, which has become the largest weight-loss program in the U.S. In 1979, he became CEO and ushered in an era of unprecedented profitability and global growth. Also, the company has been responsive to environmental issues. In 1986, for example, Heinz Italia introduced its farm-to-factory "ecological oasis" for its baby food products; in 1990, Heinz U.S.A. introduced the first fully recyclable "plastic" ketchup bottle; and in 1990, StarKist became the first company in the world to adopt a "dolphin-safe" tuna policy.

Looking Ahead

Inspired, though not bound, by tradition, Heinz will continue to build strategies based on the strength of its leading brands and the opportunities that lie ahead in such markets as foodservice, sauces and tomato products, infant feeding, frozen potatoes, weight-loss, pet food and tuna. The global economy beckons. It would not have surprised the Founder, Henry John Heinz. Since his first, legendary journey to London, the company has focused on making its brands citizens of the world. Looking ahead, with major operations in Canada, England, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the fast-growing Pacific Rim countries, Heinz is well-positioned for many more years of steady growth.

Globally Diverse

In 1886, Henry J. Heinz, the Founder, made the first overseas sales to England's Fortnum & Mason. Today, there are more than 4,000 Heinz varieties marketed in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe. Nearly half of company sales come from non-U.S. operations, and nearly 70 percent of sales are for products that do not carry the Heinz brand name. As Chairman O'Reilly says, "Heinz is a world brand, but to a greater extent a world of brands." As President and CEO William R. Johnson notes, "the dedicated Heinz management team has fashioned initiatives for futher global growth well into the new millennium." As Chairman O'Reilly says, "Heinz is a world brand, but to a greater extent a world of brands."

Non Executive Chairman

Milestones

1869	Henry J. Heinz and L. Clarence Noble launch Heinz & Noble, thus laying the groundwork for today's global company. The first product is Henry's mother's 'pure and superior' grated horseradish bottled in clear glass to show its purity.
1876	Ketchup is added to the company's condiment line, which also includes celery sauce, pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut and vinegar.
1893	Heinz introduces the first pickle pins at the Chicago World's Fair, known as The Columbian Exposition. It becomes one of the most popular promotional pieces in the history of American business.
1896	Henry Heinz turns more than 60 products into "57 Varieties." The magic number becomes world renowned and now is virtually synonymous with the H.J. Heinz Company.
1931	Howard Heinz, Henry's son, fights the Great Depression by adding two new lines: ready-to- serve 'quality' soups and baby foods. They become top sellers.
1946	H.J. 'Jack' Heinz II, grandson of the Founder, takes the company public, and launches post-war operations in Holland, Venezuela, Japan and Italy.
1963	Heinz acquires StarKist and 'Charlie the Tuna' becomes a national media star.
1965	Heinz acquires Ore-Ida and transforms a regional business into the leading retail frozen potato brand in the U.S.
1966	R. Burt Gookin, architect of the modern Heinz, is the first non-Heinz family member named CEO.
1978	Heinz acquires Weight Watchers International, now the largest weight-loss program in the U.S.
1979	Anthony J.F. 'Tony' O'Reilly, 43, named CEO. He ushers in an era of global growth, expanding into Africa, China, Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim.
1987	Chairman Henry J. Heinz II, in the 56th year of service to Heinz, dies at the age of 78. O'Reilly is the first non-Heinz family member named Chairman, President and CEO.
1998	William R. Johnson, 48, named President and CEO. He is the sixth Chief Executive Officer in the history of Heinz.