In what is some of the most shocking food-related news of 2018, Heinz has announced they will be changing the name of their iconic product Salad Cream to Sandwich Cream.
The switch, the biggest in the brand’s 104-year history, comes after research found that Brits were not using the salad cream as previously thought.
Rather than drizzling the creamy white dressing over their greens, as the name suggests, Brits are instead using the salad cream on sandwiches.
New uses for the salad cream include as a dipping sauce for chips or as a perfect condiment to complement a tuna, ham or cheese sandwich - which came as a surprise to the company who’d spent eight years perfecting the flavour for the UK market.
In the end, it was revealed that only a remaining 14 per cent used the salad dressing on their salads - prompting Kraft Heinz to change with the times.
Taking drastic measures, the American-owned company revealed that they would be introducing an overhaul to the product name because the current one did not “fairly represent the product’s ingredients or usage occasions.”
The look of the bottles will be redesigned as well with the help of London design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie.
Speaking to The Grocer about their decision, a spokesperson for Heinz said: “As a market leading business, Kraft Heinz continues to audit its portfolio in order to meet the needs of consumers.
“There are consumers now who haven’t grown up with the brand in the household and just don’t know about the iconic zingy flavour or what to eat it with.”
However, whether the public will approve of the new design and name doesn't seem likely.
Previous attempts by Heinz to interfere with the public and their access to salad cream have not ended well - with one attempt to stop selling it leading to a Parliamentary debate in 1999.
And on social media, people have already begun to react to the news with dismay.
“Just heard the news that #Heinz is changing the name of ‘salad cream’ to ‘sandwich cream.’ This is not okay with me. I feel attacked,” one person wrote on Twitter.
New bottles are expected to hit shelves in September.
