marz-edition

The global pursuit to grow fresh, tasty food has reached dizzying new heights!

In a world (and universe!) first, Heinz’s Tomato Masters and a team from Florida Tech’s AldrinSpace Institute have successfully grown Heinz tomatoes in Martian soil conditions.

The project was created to enhance knowledge of growing tomatoes in a sustainable way, not just on the red planet but also on our own.

With such experiments, we’re able to advance our understanding and create solutions for challenges on Earth. Taking care of our soils is one of our key missions and we will take our learnings into continuing our commitments towards growing sustainable crops, so that we can continue making the world’s favourite ketchup for generations to come.

Watch the special interview event here

"We’re so excited that our team of experts have been able to grow tomatoes in unknown conditions from another planet and share our creation with the world. From analysing the soil from Martian conditions two years ago to harvesting now, it’s been a journey that’s proved wherever we end up, Heinz Tomato Ketchup will still be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Cristina Kenz,

Chief Growth Officer,

Kraft Heinz

“From satellites and GPS that allow us to connect across continents, to water filtration and purification systems designed for the ISS that are now used to provide aid and disaster relief to communities, the endeavours of space exploration have had many untold benefits to Earth.”

Mike Massimino,

Former NASA astronaut

"Before now, most efforts around discovering ways to grow in Martian simulated conditions are short term plant growth studies. What this project has done is look at longterm harvesting of food. Achieving a crop that is of a quality to become Heinz Tomato Ketchup was the dream result and we achieved it”

Dr Andrew Palmer,

Aldrin Space Institute

A bespoke greenhouse, dubbed the ‘Redhouse’, was built on the grounds of the Aldrin Space Institute at the Florida Institute of Technology that mimicked the conditions humans would face when growing on the red planet – from artificial LED lighting to 3500kg of the analog Martian regolith (that’s soil to you and me).

Find more updates and facts here

Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun, about 50 million miles farther away than Earth – so it gets very cold!*

Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner than Earth’s. It contains more than 95% carbon dioxide and less than 1% oxygen.*

Explore our delicious Earth portfolio here

In space, we have a saying, ‘it’s not about the food it’s about the sauce’– we could choose what food we wanted to eat up there but lots of the dishes came dehydrated and a little bit bland, so a good dollop of sauce always made your meals delicious, which started my love for Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Mike Massimino, former NASA astronaut

*https://mars.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/facts/