Heinz's New Gadget Will Change The Way You Use Ketchup

There's a new condiment tool hitting the streets today, and Heinz is certain that it's a game-changer. Ketchup packets have long been a part of our drive-thru and fast food lives, and while they've never been perfect (does the ketchup ever not get all over your fingers?) it's easier to grab a handful of these instead of keeping a bottle of ketchup in your purse. Plus the single-serve packets have been a restaurant must-have during the pandemic, with the increased demand across the country for takeout food, according to Food Network. Now the ketchup king Heinz has found a way to give us an even better ketchup experience. 

In a YouTube video released today, Heinz introduces "the biggest thing to happen to sauce since packets." It's the new Heinz Packet Roller. The Packet Roller is made of red plastic, shaped like a small, Heinz ketchup bottle, and even has a little, metal ring at the end so you keep it handily hooked to your keychain. It will be available for purchase on the brand's website starting today, priced at $5.70. Heinz says the gadget is "magically engineered to bring you every last drop." We're up for a little ketchup magic! 

Heinz demonstrates in their YouTube video exactly how this new Packet Roller changes the ketchup packet experience, and a slot in the center of the tool is key. Chew Boom describes the process as being similar to gizmos that get all the toothpaste out of the tube — the ketchup packet is slipped into the slot on the roller and as it slides through the narrow opening, all of the ketchup is pressed out. While there's no data detailing how much ketchup is lost in the normal packet opening process (done with fingers slippery from French fry grease), this tool promises to leave no condiment behind — whether ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, or Horsey sauce. 

While we can see how this gadget will help us get all the ketchup out of the finicky packets, we're not sure it will make the process any less messy. As shown in the video, the ketchup first has to be opened before it can go through the Packet Roller. And we don't know about you, but the moment we tear open those packets, ketchup inevitably spurts out everywhere. Oh well, at least Heinz' Packet Roller will help us enjoy every last bit of sweet-tangy ketchup, even if they haven't figured out yet how to keep it from getting all over our fingers.