
Images via Heinz Netherlands
Heinz has cooked up a quirky concoction called ‘Hagelchup’, tomato ketchup specks created to sprinkle some excitement onto eats, particularly on Dutch cuisine.
Taste buds in the Netherlands tend to favor mayonnaise as the go-to fry topping. To appeal to locals, the brand—alongside Amsterdam-based creative agency GUT—has looked to the traditional Hagelslag chocolate sprinkles, which the Dutch typically enjoy on buttered bread. Thus saw the invention of Hagelchup, a blend of the two that celebrate both Heinz’s heritage and Dutch culture.
Hagelchup comes in the iconic Heinz bottle but is produced in the De Ruijter factory, a well-known producer for quality chocolate sprinkles in the Netherlands.
Heinz hopes this quirky product will inspire Dutch consumers to rethink how they use ketchup, perhaps even encouraging them to try it on more than just fries.
“We know Dutch consumers do quite irrational things when it comes to their hagelslag. They put it on everything, from white bread to yogurt, mixed with peanut butter on bread or they eat it straight from the pack,” says Belén LLamazares Carballo, marketing director at Kraft Heinz. “Because this Dutch delicacy captivates everyone from the first crunchy bite.”

Image via Belén LLamazares Carballo / The Kraft Heinz Company
Carbello adds that Heinz decided to approach the local snack scene with “a bit of healthy jealousy,” contemplating how to make ketchup as tantalizing as sprinkles in the Netherlands.
“Well, we changed our product. Some said it couldn’t be done, but we did it!”
Hagelchup will be available for a limited time at fast-food restaurant Heertje Friet in Amsterdam from September 6 to 8, reminding patrons that “even if you sprinkle it, it has to be Heinz.”
[via Dieline, Ads of the World, Ad Age, The Stable, images via various sources]