Heinz’s new adjustable cap looks simple. Its design process was another story

FastCompany: Never before has a ketchup bottle been designed with such precise portion control. Heinz has released its first-ever customizable lid that comes with three settings for light, medium, and heavy labeled “Like,” “Love,” and “Crazy Love” for an increasingly heavier pour. If the biggest challenge with old-school glass bottles is not knowing how much ketchup will come out when you have to tilt a half-empty container and hit it with the palm of your hand, a Heinz squeeze bottle with the new “Love Lid” is just the opposite.

The “Love Lid” is designed with a patented adjustable cap that Heinz developed in partnership with Beta Design Office and Wieden+Kennedy London. It works thanks to a two-part mechanism that controls the ketchup flow while creating a distinct “click” sound as it’s turned to the three different settings. “The biggest challenge was making something that feels incredibly simple to use but is actually quite complex behind the scenes,” Jamie Mack, associate director of brand communications for Heinz U.S., tells Fast Company .

“Getting that satisfying tactile feedback, a secure seal, and three different squeeze settings into just two components required significant design and engineering, but the end result makes finding your perfect squeeze as easy as twist, click, and enjoy.” For now, the Love Lid is available for a limited time for shoppers online in the U.S. for $3.78 as well as in the U.K., but Mack says the brand “is always listening to fan feedback on whether to extend the innovation.” Heinz has worked to differentiate its ketchup through a number of creative packaging products.

Its “Heinz Dipper” box , a french fry container released earlier this year, includes a pull-out compartment for ketchup built into the box. And in 2023, Heinz Turkey released bottles with the exact same shade of red as its ketchup on the bottle’s front sticker , with labeling that pointed to the clear portion of the container and asked, “Is That Heinz? Check With the Color of the Label” to dissuade restaurants from refilling Heinz bottles with off-brand ketchup. Together, the innovations show how the brand is managing to draw attention to its ketchup without changing the actual product.

Instead, these packaging innovations provide new, culturally relevant ways for Heinz fans to engage that go beyond the ketchup itself. Heinz’s parent company, Kraft Heinz, previously planned to split into two companies, but it paused the split earlier this year and announced it would instead invest in marketing , sales, and product development. As the maker of national brands like Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese, the company has faced pressure as consumers increasingly turn to generic brands seeking value and affordability at the grocery store. But Heinz isn’t running from its brand name.

Instead, it’s using clever packaging to elevate and highlight its brand into a tactile experience engineered for fans to love.

Heinz's innovative approach to packaging design through the adjustable cap significantly impacts brand strategy by enhancing user experience, making it highly relevant and moderately novel in the industry.