Heinz says Australians are asking for its new, pink ‘Barbiecue’ sauce
New York City | If you thought Barbie mania was over, think again. It has certainly not concluded for Kraft Heinz.
Nine months after the release of Barbie, which brought in more than $US1.4 billion to become last year’s highest-grossing film, the food maker has partnered with Mattel to produce “Barbiecue” sauce.
The condiment is appropriately pink hued and emblazoned with the pony-tailed doll profile. If star Margot Robbie had worked a grill in the movie, the product would have had prime placement.
Heinz is releasing Barbiecue sauce in the UK and Spain, but says: “We’d never say never to launching it in other markets. We’ve even had people from Australia asking for Barbiecue.” Mattel
Heinz is launching Barbiecue, which is discretely labelled on the back of the squeezable bottle as “Heinz Vegan Mayo with BBQ Sauce”, in just two countries, the UK and Spain – but says Australia could be a possible market.
In the UK, it is being sold as a limited-edition offering, with 5000 bottles available on heinztohome.co.uk starting this week. A further limited run of the sauce will be sold nationwide at Tesco supermarkets, from April 17, and then on Ocado, the online UK delivery service, starting in mid-May. In total, Heinz is producing about 105,000 bottles for the UK. The suggested retail price is £3.39 ($6.50) for a 415 ml squeeze bottle.
In Spain, about 12,000 bottles of the sauce will be available nationally at 120 El Corte Inglés department stores, with some online giveaways, starting on April 25.
Barbie merchandise has been flying off the shelf since the movie’s release in July 2023. Mattel’s sales grew by 9.3 per cent in the third quarter of last year, to $US1.92 billion, thanks in large part to Barbie. Additional Barbiecore products such as Gap hoodies and Crocs were snapped up, too.
One fan even told us they’d dye their hair pink if we brought Barbiecue to life.
— Kraft Heinz’s Andre Fernandes
“Our relationship with Barbie started over a year ago, ahead of the movie launching,” said Andre Fernandes, Kraft Heinz’s vice president of Growth, Europe & Pacific Developed Markets. Big food companies are not known for moving fast, however, so it’s only now, with the film playing on airline screens, that Heinz is releasing Barbiecue.
The company first gauged interest on social media in the late northern hemisphere summer, when a Facebook UK post generated 464,000 likes and 71,000 comments. “One fan even told us they’d dye their hair pink if we brought Barbiecue to life,” said Mr Fernandes. That’s when Heinz decided to make the sauce a reality, at least for a short period. Product development took about six months.
The starting point for the recipe, according to Mr Fernandes, comes from customers’ habit of blending Heinz Classic BBQ sauce with the company’s mayo; the colour comes from what is certainly a hefty amount of beetroot extract. The result is exactly what you would expect: a thick, gloppy spread that’s almost the consistency of mayo, with a sweet faux-smoky flavour.
The product is launching in the UK and Spain because that’s where Heinz saw the strongest response from customers following its social media tease. Although there are no plans to sell Barbiecue in the US, said Mr Fernandes, “We’d never say never to launching it in other markets. We’ve even had people from Australia asking for Barbiecue.”
As for other Barbie-themed products? “We’d never rule out a Kenchup,” Mr Fernandes said.
Bloomberg
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