Heinz targeting kids with green ketchup

7/10/2000-Heinz Company, a major U.S. producer of ketchup, is introducing green ketchup. The new green ketchup tastes the same as their red ketchup. Company executives are hoping its unexpected color and plastic bottle, which squirts a stream so thin kids can draw with it, will pack in the fans. The 131-year-old food company last year embarked on a new ketchup campaign after its share of the U.S. ketchup market dropped to about 43% in the late 1990s. Rather than going after adults who buy the ketchup, Heinz targeted teens, pitching it during breaks in shows like ``Dawson's Creek,'' "Party of Five,'' and on MTV. The hourglass squeeze bottle was designed to facilitate ketchup art for kids. It gives kids an easy grip with both hands and the cap that releases the thin stream, like icing for cakes, said Heinz spokeswoman Deb Magness. The company also added Vitamin C to encourage parents to buy it. The new green ketchup will be in stores by October at a price about 20 cents higher than the more traditional red product.