Heinz launches campaign to balance hot-dog-to-bun packaging ratio

PITTSBURGH — The third-largest food and beverage company in North America has had enough.

In a bid to answer the second-oldest foodie riddle - trailing only the great chicken-or-the-egg debate - Heinz on Tuesday launched its Heinz Hot Dog Pact, an online petition “calling on big bun and big wiener companies to finally sell buns and wieners in even packs,” Food & Wine reported.

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“We’ve seen our fans through social media express their outrage about the bun-to-hot-dog ratio issue for years, and we know there must be a better way. We believe that the time for change is now, and we are hopeful,” Daniel Gotlib, associate director of brand building and innovation for the Kraft Heinz Co., stated in the announcement.

The issue?

Hot dog packages include 10 wieners each, but hot dog buns are packaged eight to a bag.

“As the condiment that has been bringing foods together for over 150 years, we’ve decided enough is enough,” Heinz stated, pleading with consumers to sign the petition and help “change hot dog history together.”

Specifically, the company is calling upon bun manufacturers to boost their offerings to 10 buns per bag, calling itself the perfect partner to “address this grave hot-dog-to-bun ratio issue” and “resolve this dilemma forever,” WPXI reported.

Food & Wine asked, however, why Heinz decided 10 - and not 8 - is the magic number, and Heinz responded via email: “When it comes to hot dogs, more is better! Instead of scaling back how many hot dogs one can make in each pack, we wanted to bring more to the table this summer.”

Can an online petition actually solve the quandary of mismatched quantities that has plagued and perplexed backyard cookouts for more than 15 decades?

Heinz believes it is exactly the right company at the right time to balance the epicurean equation.

“As the iconic condiment that has been making hot dogs complete for over 150 years, we saw an opportunity to champion this issue on behalf of hot dog lovers across North America and help show manufacturers why they need to put an end to unequal packs,” Gotlib stated.

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