Henry John Heinz Ketchup Developer Backyard Business Today Heinz ketchup is found in many restaurants in North America Henry John Heinz introduced his brand of tomato ketchup in 1876 It has been the standard ever since Henry John H J Heinz was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on October 11 1844 He was the oldest of eight children H J s parents Anna Margaretha and John Henry Heinz were German immigrants When H J was six the family moved to Sharpsburg a village near Pittsburgh There his father ran a brickyard H J s mother had a vegetable garden on the property When not in school H J helped his mother tend her garden They grew more than enough for their family to eat So when H J was eight years old he began selling the extra vegetables from the garden door-to-door In 1854 H J s parents gave him his own small plot of land He was able to grow and sell more vegetables Soon he was able to buy more land for gardening By the time he was 12 years old H J had nearly 4 acres 1 6 ha of land
In 1854 H J helped make the bricks for the family 1950s it has been in Dearborn Michigan home in Sharpsburg In 1904 the house was moved to the Heinz plant in Pittsburgh Since the
Henry John Heinz Ketchup Developer Horsing Around It was clear from a young age that H J was a clever businessman He continued to grow and sell vegetables including horseradish Horseradish is a root vegetable It is often grated and used as a spice But grating horseradish was difficult To avoid the chore of grating people would pay for grated horseradish So H J added grated horseradish to his products At the time several companies sold grated horseradish But H J s product stood out from the competition Companies didn’t always wash the horseradish well before grating it And they often added fillers such as turnips and wood shavings These companies packaged their horseradish in dark bottles to hide the dirt and fillers H J used clear bottles so people could see how pure his product was More and more people started choosing H J s horseradish In addition to selling horseradish H J also worked as a bookkeeper at his father’s brickyard Both of these jobs inspired him to learn more about business So H J attended Duff’s Mercantile College in Pittsburgh
Horseradish has a strong spicy flavor Grated horseradish is often mixed with vinegar to make a sauce
