ConAgra Makes the Switch to Sugar

Feedback from Hunts consumers said they want ingredients they can explain to their family, things that are familiar. That is why they trust Hunt’s ketchup, because it was already a simple recipe.

ConAgra Foods, one of Imperial Sugar Company’s top 10 industrial customers, has removed the high-fructose corn syrup from every bottle of its Hunt’s ketchup products and replaced it with liquid sugar from Imperial Sugar.

“It’s an example of the larger trend toward simpler foods and ingredients,” says Dave Jackson, manager of communications for ConAgra, one of North America’s leading food companies.

“We receive a lot of feedback from our consumers about what they prefer in their foods. One frequent comment was this: ‘I want ingredients I can explain to my family, things that are familiar.’ We knew we had an opportunity with Hunt’s ketchup, because it was already a simple recipe.”

A bottle of Hunt’s now contains only five ingredients: tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and other seasonings, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

The reformulated product, Hunt’s 100% Natural Ketchup, arrived on grocery shelves in May, and early consumer feedback shows that the product is a hit.

“So far, consumer feedback has been very positive,” Jackson says. “It’s now a point of differentiation for Hunt’s ketchup that it’s made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.”

For more than 20 years, Imperial Sugar has supplied ConAgra Foods with refined white sugar, brown sugar or liquid sugar for many of the food company’s brands, such as Crunch ‘n Munch, Banquet and Van Camp’s.

What keeps the supplier-customer relationship strong is Imperial’s ability to consistently deliver a great product, at the right place, at the right time, says Alan Reichmuth, director of commodity procurement for ConAgra Foods.

With the reformulation of Hunt’s ketchup, ConAgra and Imperial Sugar have found themselves collaborating in yet another way. When ConAgra Foods was building a storage tank for liquid sugar at its Newport, Tenn., manufacturing facility, the company tapped the expertise of Tom Wilson, Imperial’s technical services manager, to make sure the tank had all the proper specifications.

That’s the sort of above-and-beyond partnering that helps further cement the supplier-customer relationship, says Reichmuth. “Like the way Imperial can deliver a last-minute load of sugar when we need it,” he says. “It’s that kind of responsiveness that we count on.”