I could list a bushel full of reasons why I like PP (and all of Mexico for that matter), yet having lived, worked and played in Asia, the Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean and the USA over the course of my life I could never really figure out why I have an extra soft spot in my heart for this land of beaches, sun and fun. Until now that is!
According to a recent Wall Street Journal piece by Ilan Brat and Paul Kiernan the U.S. ketchup giant H.J. Heinz Co has discovered that “Mexicans eat more ketchup by sales value (I ‘think’ they meant volume?) than consumers in all but eight other countries. Many of them slather the thick red sauce on chicken, pasta and eggs— even pizza”, and the company is now seeking to “tap” Mexico’s taste for ketchup.
Now we’re talking, amigos, because, to the horror of family and peers, all my life, whenever the opportunity presented itself I, too, have slopped the red delicacy over just about anything you could imagine. And being a connoisseur of fine condiments, I’ve always considered Heinz ketchup to be the world’s finest ‘topper’!
But what I don’t get is this: In a country where I’m sure it is written in their Constitution somewhere that tomatoes (in one form or another) must be served during all three meals each day to all 100 + Million folks (and turistas, too!) how come it took the ‘suits’ at Heinz so long to figure this one out?
Maybe it is because they’ve been too busy with other markets such as the “beans in tomato sauce” they make ‘Down Under’ at their Heinz-Watties factory in Bomen (outside Wagga Wagga) Australia, and hawking those frijoles under their very successful ad slogan "beanz meanz Heinz"…
Now that the good people at Heinz have concluded that there are millions of us here in Mexico that like a good blast of ketchup from time to time I wonder how long it will take them to also discover we like beans, too, because that “beanz means Heinz” sounds pretty darn tasty and I’m sure they could sell some sort of “Frijoles y tortillas” contraption down here if they’d remind us to add a little ketchup, ah, I mean salsa, too!
¡Viva México y Puerto Peñasco!
Email me: El Gitano Penasco
