In many presentations about marketing and product strategy, a story often appears about Heinz supposedly boosting sales dramatically by reducing the number of products it offered. The challenge is that there is little or no documentation showing that this actually happened. The story is nevertheless based on a genuine psychological phenomenon that is well documented in research. So what is actually true, and where did the story come from?
Did Heinz really increase sales by reducing the number of products?
Heinz is one of the world’s most recognizable food brands and is closely associated with the slogan “57 Varieties.”
In many marketing presentations, Heinz is used as an example of how fewer products can lead to higher sales. The story claims that the company discovered that a large product range created confusion among customers. The solution was supposedly to reduce the number of products, which allegedly resulted in a significant increase in sales.
The challenge is that there is little evidence supporting the claim that Heinz reduced its product range. On the contrary, a broad product portfolio was an important part of the company’s brand strategy. When the slogan “57 Varieties” was introduced in 1896, Heinz was already selling more than 60 products. The number 57 was therefore not the result of a product reduction strategy, but a deliberate marketing decision designed to signal variety, innovation, and choice.
Product Range Reductions at Kraft Heinz in Recent Years
Following the merger of Kraft and Heinz in 2015, the company reviewed its product portfolio to reduce complexity and improve operational efficiency. Around 2020, the company announced plans to reduce the number of product variants globally by approximately 20 percent.
The reasons included:
- Increasing competition from private-label brands
- Changing consumer habits
- The need for more efficient production and logistics
These reductions were primarily strategic and financial decisions, not the result of decision psychology or an experiment related to consumer choice in store aisles.
The Jam Experiment That Explains Why Fewer Choices Can Increase Sales
The most likely source of many of these stories can be found in a well-known experiment in decision psychology. Conducted by researchers Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, the study is commonly referred to as the Jam Study. In a grocery store, customers were invited to sample different types of jam while the researchers tested two different setups:
- A tasting booth with 24 different flavors
- A tasting booth with 6 different flavors
The interesting finding was that the booth offering 24 flavors attracted the most visitors. The large selection sparked curiosity and encouraged more people to stop and browse. However, when it came to making a purchase, the results were reversed:
- 3 percent purchased when 24 options were available
- 30 percent purchased when only 6 options were available
In other words, the purchase rate was significantly higher when customers had fewer options to choose from.
Choice Overload Explains Why Too Many Options Can Reduce Sales
Most of us like having choices. However, there is a limit to how many options we are willing to consider before the decision starts feeling more exhausting than useful, causing us to postpone the decision, choose what we already know, or in some cases avoid making a choice altogether.
For people who want variety and know exactly what they are looking for, a broad selection can be an advantage. However, when the number of options becomes so large that we must spend more time and mental energy evaluating them, the freedom of choice that was supposed to make the decision easier can instead make us less certain that we are choosing correctly.
For businesses, the challenge is often to strike the right balance between choice, relevance, and clarity so customers can make decisions easily.
How Heinz Became Linked to the Myth of Fewer Products
When research findings and examples are repeated through books, presentations, and articles, small changes often occur along the way. To make a concept more concrete, theories are frequently linked to well-known brands, and after enough retellings, an illustration can eventually be perceived as a real-world example.
The most likely explanation is that three separate ideas have gradually been mixed together:
- the jam experiment on choice overload
- modern portfolio reductions in large companies
- Heinz as a familiar and recognizable brand
When stories like these circulate long enough, the same thing happens as in the childhood game of Telephone. A research finding becomes a story, the story becomes a presentation example, and eventually it is treated as a documented case study. That is how a study about decision psychology can end up being retold as a story about ketchup.
Why the Heinz Bottle Has the Number 57 on Its Neck
Although the story about product range reduction is probably a myth, there is another Heinz detail that is actually true.
On Heinz glass bottles, you will find the number 57 printed on the neck. If you gently tap the bottle exactly where the number is located, the ketchup will often flow more easily. This is related to the way ketchup behaves as a fluid. It is thick when standing still, but becomes more fluid when set in motion.
The placement of the number therefore also serves as a small guide showing where to tap the bottle. In other words, the number 57 is not only a famous marketing slogan, but also a practical detail that many people are unaware of.
What We Can Actually Learn from the Story
The Heinz story shows how easily compelling narratives spread, even when they are not entirely accurate. When research, examples, and well-known brands are blended together, an illustration can gradually be perceived as a documented case study.
It also reminds us of the importance of critical thinking, because reality is often simplified or sharpened in books, presentations, and articles to make the point clearer and the story easier to remember, even if the result is not always a completely accurate description of what actually happened.
We like to believe that more choices are always better, but research shows that it is not that simple. When the number of options becomes too large, freedom of choice can feel more burdensome than beneficial. For anyone developing products, services, or digital solutions, the challenge is often to reduce friction and make decisions clear, relevant, and easy to make.
