In the opening paragraphs, it’s important to quickly answer the main question posed in the title. Yes, purple ketchup did exist for a brief time in the early 2000s. Heinz released a colorful new line of ketchup that included purple, green, pink, orange, teal, and blue options. The purple ketchup was particularly popular among kids. However, it was discontinued just a few years later in 2006.
When was purple ketchup sold?
Heinz introduced its Funky Purple, Electric Green, Blastin’ Green, Stellar Blue, and Totally Teal ketchup varieties in 2000. The new colors were achieved by adding food dyes to the traditional tomato-based ketchup recipe. At the time, brightly colored and artificially flavored foods and beverages were very popular with children and teens. Heinz was trying to find a way to appeal to younger consumers and boost ketchup sales. The colorful ketchups were sold in stores across the United States and Canada starting in 2000.
The purple ketchup specifically launched in January 2001. It quickly became the most popular of the new ketchups Heinz was offering. Purple ketchup was sold until 2006, when all of the brightly colored ketchups were discontinued due to poor sales.
What did purple ketchup taste like?
According to reviews at the time, the purple ketchup tasted just like regular ketchup. The only difference was the addition of blue food coloring to achieve the purple hue. The ketchup had the same thick, tomato-y tang that Heinz ketchup is known for. The purple color was just for fun and didn’t affect the actual flavor.
Some kids seemed to think the purple ketchup tasted better simply because of the novelty factor. But most agreed that all the new colors of ketchup tasted the same as classic red ketchup. The colorful ketchups were the same Heinz ketchup formula with added food dye.
Why was purple ketchup discontinued?
Initially, the new colors were a big hit with kids. There was a surge of interest and sales when they first launched. However, the novelty soon wore off. After just a few years on the market, sales of the colorful ketchups started to slip. By 2006, the ketchups were taken off store shelves due to lack of consumer demand.
There were a few reasons why the purple and other colorful ketchups weren’t successful long-term:
- Kids loved the colors at first, but the novelty wore off after a while.
- The colors didn’t affect the actual flavor – it was still just regular ketchup.
- Parents weren’t as keen on buying the unnaturally colored ketchups.
- Some complained the dyes caused stains that were hard to remove.
- Consumers ultimately preferred the classic red ketchup.
While purple ketchup seemed really cool when it first came out, most people view red as the true, iconic ketchup color. Heinz realized that the colorful ketchups were just a passing fad that didn’t have longevity. So in 2006, after about 5 years on the market, they discontinued all the funky colored ketchups to focus on their core red ketchup product.
What colors did colorful ketchup come in?
Here is a list of all the new ketchup colors that Heinz released in the early 2000s:
| Color | Year Released |
|---|---|
| Purple | 2001 |
| Green | 2000 |
| Pink | 2002 |
| Orange | 2001 |
| Teal | 2002 |
| Blue | 2003 |
As you can see, purple was one of the first new colors introduced along with green in 2000-2001. Other colors quickly followed over the next few years. But purple and green were the original colors that kicked off the colorful ketchup trend.
Could you still find purple ketchup today?
Purple ketchup has been off store shelves since 2006, so you can’t go out and buy it anymore. However, there are some ways you may still be able to find it:
- Online auction sites – People who stocked up on purple ketchup may sell it on Ebay or other auction sites.
- Specialty food stores – Some novelty food shops may have held onto old bottles these past 15+ years.
- International sellers – It’s possible some small overseas markets continued producing purple ketchup.
However, your chances of finding an actual edible bottle of purple ketchup today are very low. Any bottles for sale now would be well past their expiration date. At this point, your best bet for getting purple ketchup would be to make your own by adding blue food dye to regular ketchup.
Did other brands make purple ketchup?
Heinz was the major brand most associated with purple ketchup in the early 2000s. Their Funky Purple ketchup variety was the first purple ketchup sold widely across stores in North America.
However, some smaller brands also tried to capitalize on the colorful ketchup trend that Heinz started:
- Vlasic – Best known for pickles, Vlasic sold purple and other funky colored ketchups for a brief time.
- Del Monte – The fruit company released purple, pink, green and blue ketchup.
- Hunt’s – Hunt’s offered purple and blue ketchup for a limited time.
But none of these other brands saw the same success as Heinz. The purple ketchup novelty was most closely associated with the Heinz brand. No other brand’s purple ketchup reached the same level of popularity and nostalgia.
Were there any concerns about purple ketchup?
Some parents did express concerns about the artificial dyes used to color the purple ketchup. There were worries that the dyes could cause allergic reactions or other health effects. However, the dyes used in the ketchup were approved by the FDA and determined safe to eat.
The bigger complaints had to do with the mess and stains caused by the highly pigmented purple color. Since the ketchup was so dark, it could easily stain clothing, tables, and other surfaces. This staining issue was the main downside that led many parents to avoid buying the product.
There were also general concerns that the unusual colors could cause confusion and mix-ups. For example, a child might accidentally drink purple ketchup thinking it was grape juice. So there were some valid reasons for caution regarding the abnormally hued ketchups.
Why was purple such a popular ketchup color?
There are a few reasons why purple emerged as one of the most popular colors of Heinz’s new ketchups:
- Purple was an unexpected, whimsical color for ketchup – it grabbed people’s attention.
- It was released early in the colored ketchup rollout, so it benefitted from initial hype.
- Kids love the color purple – it’s fun and associated with imagination.
- The rich, deep purple hue provided high visual impact.
While the colored ketchups were merely a gimmick, the color purple really worked from a marketing perspective. It managed to get kids excited about ketchup in a way that boosted sales, at least temporarily. The color purple struck the right balance of being unusual yet appealing to children’s tastes.
Did other novelty colored foods exist?
The purple ketchup craze was part of a larger trend of brightly colored, novelty foods in the 1990s and 2000s. Some other examples of this include:
- Blue raspberry – Artificially flavored blue raspberry became very popular for drinks and candies.
- Green Heinz EZ Squirt – Heinz also released a Blastin’ Green colored ketchup.
- Blue Pepsi – Pepsi briefly sold a crystal blue colored cola.
- Green ketchup – Shrek themed green ketchup was sold to promote the movie.
- Green milk – This was offered as a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick.
Novelty colors were a way for brands to generate buzz and stand out on crowded shelves. But most of these products, like purple ketchup, were unable to sustain long-term sales. The initial novelty wore off quickly once people realized the colors didn’t impact flavor.
Conclusion
Purple ketchup exemplified the early 2000s trend of unconventional, brightly colored foods. While it was initially very popular, especially among kids, sales declined swiftly once the novelty factor diminished. Most consumers ultimately preferred the classic red ketchup hue. But for a brief period in the early 2000s, purple ketchup bottles were a fairly common sight in grocery stores and on family dining tables.
It represented a creative and risky marketing gimmick on Heinz’s part that paid off in the short-term but couldn’t sustain lasting demand. However, purple ketchup remains firmly entrenched as an example of early 2000s nostalgia and faddishness. It was an unusual chapter in ketchup history that won’t soon be forgotten, even if the purple ketchup itself is long gone.