FOOD NEWS
The Jarred Condiment That Outsold Ketchup In The Early '90s
By Chase Shustack
While ketchup has remained an essential condiment almost since the publishing of the first known tomato-based ketchup recipe in 1812, there was a brief time when it wasn’t the condiment Americans were reaching for. Forbes explained that, during the 1990s, the United States saw an "increase in the Latino population," which preferred a more familiar condiment.
People began looking for a spicier, chunkier type of condiment that would jolt them with the spice and heat, leading to a renewed focus on salsa. At the time, salsa became so popular that it was outselling ketchup by an astounding $40 million in grocery stores; however, the kings of ketchup weren't going to go down without a fight.
According to a 1999 article from the Associated Press, Heinz Ketchup promised to begin a campaign to "rebuild" its image and update the ketchup formula to eliminate the watery tomato solution found at the top of the bottle. While salsa obviously didn't manage to smudge ketchup out of the picture permanently, the two condiments are still trying to outsell the other.