Interplanetary Ketchup Wars? Hunts Unveils A Uranus-Brand Ketchup In Response To Heinz's Mars-Inspired Condiment

One week after Kraft Heinz Co KHC unveiled a Heinz ketchup made from tomatoes grown in similar environmental conditions found on Mars, Conagra Brands CAG is starting an interplanetary condiment battle with its limited edition Hunt's Uranus Ketchup.

What Happened: Heinz’s ketchup was the result of a nine-month collaboration with a 14-person astrobiology team at the Florida Institute of Technology’s Aldrin Space Institute. This endeavor simulated conditions that could encourage tomato growth within the institute’s RedHouse, a Mars-like biodome, an environment where the seeds were cultivated in arid dust and with minimal water and fertilizing.

On the other hand, Hunts admitted that no aerospace or agricultural studies were required in branding its product with the seventh planet from the sun.

"When we saw our ketchup called out on late night TV, we wanted to deliver on the great idea," said Bobby Modi, vice president and general manager and Conagra Brands. "Hunt's ketchup is perfect for any occasion, and now it's perfect for any interstellar destination, even if that destination is Uranus."

What This Means: Hunts added that it's promoting its Uranus-branded ketchup on Nov. 17 in a promotional giveaway of 100 bottles accompanied by an "Out of This World" Hunt's Uranus t-shirt to the first 100 people who follow the company’s @huntschef page on Twitter TWTR and respond to a tweet related to the promotion.

Unlike the Hunts product, Heinz’s Mars-inspired ketchup is not being made available to consumers, although the studies involved in its creation is the subject of three papers that were recently submitted for scientific publication.