During the early days of the pandemic, people had to cope with severe shortages of staple items such as flour, rice and, infamously, toilet paper. As the pace of the vaccination rollout accelerates and Americans finally start to feel that the worst of the pandemic is over, they are now coping with yet another shortage of an important and much loved item: ketchup.
Rather than impacting bottled ketchup, the shortage is actually related to sachets due to heightened demand for delivery and takeout. Heinz has been worst affected and the company has stated that it is increasing production as demand overtakes supply.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that prices for ketchup sachets have climbed 13 percent since January 2020. Considering the worrying prospect of having to eat hamburgers and french fries without ketchup, which brands remain the most popular among Americans?
Research carried out by Statista found that just under 200 million people across the U.S. used Heinz ketchup last year, with Hunt's ketchup in second place, used by 84 million. Generic store brands round off the top-three, followed by Del Monte branded ketchup.
