That Heinz Ketchup Smoothie? I Tried It, and Liked It
The collaboration with Smoothie King is testing the limits of calling tomatoes fruit.
Noah Fecks/Photo courtesy of Heinz, Smoothie King
Ketchup is often the ideal condiment for topping so many foods from French fries to fish sticks. The one thing it’s probably not topping is anyone’s list of go-to smoothie ingredients. But why not? At some point you’ll be confronted with that age-old argument of whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. It’s a fruit, of course, even if we generally don’t treat it the same way we do its sweeter fruit family members. Now, a new version of this biologically settled argument just might challenge your notion of the tomato’s fruit status yet again: If tomatoes are fruits then is ketchup a smoothie?
Whether or not ketchup on its own is a sipworthy smoothie, this summer, iconic ketchup maker Heinz is teaming up with national chain Smoothie King to put the red stuff into a summer-ready drink. Before you balk, the Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smoothie, like so many smoothies, is a mix of various fruits, meaning no, it’s not just a bunch of ketchup and ice. But after what I’m told took 50 tries, a winning recipe was found.
Starting today, Smoothie King locations around the country will be adding Heinz Simply Ketchup — the version “made with no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives and just seven real ingredients” including cane sugar — to a limited-edition drink blended with açaí sorbet, raspberries, strawberries and apple juice.
“After months of meticulous R&D, testing, and tasting, we landed on a savory-sweet blend that celebrates the tomato in all its glory,” Lori Primavera, Vice President of R&D and Product Marketing at Smoothie King, said. “As always, our commitment to nutritious ingredients and our Clean Blends promise remain at the heart of every recipe — and this bold new blend is no exception!”
Adam Campbell-Schmitt
Of course you’re wondering how it tastes and, of course, I tried it. Having tasted and written about all sorts of odd food brand mashups and downright awful stunts, I was pleasantly surprised to be offered a refreshingly tart and slightly tangy fruit-forward smoothie. It’s red, but that’s one of its very few resemblances to drinking ketchup. The berries and açaí offer sweet, sour and earthy notes, while the Heinz adds just a hint of savory and tomato flavors, mostly noticeable on the aftertaste. Sure, ketchup may be more of a supporting player than the star, but this sauce is used to it.
The Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smoothie will be available for $5.70 (a nod to Heinz’s association with the number 57) beginning today, August 6, at select Smoothie King locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Miami, New York City and parts of Northern New Jersey. Visit the Smoothie King website for availability. The ketchup-infused concoction will stick around for a few weeks while supplies last.
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