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125 braais. More than 2,000 people. One giant Heinz label. And food art painted in Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
September 2026: Heinz came to Heritage Day to pull up a chair at Mzansi’s table. South Africa pulled up more than 2,000.
On National Braai Day, Heinz marked its arrival in South African braai culture with a Heritage Day celebration in Johannesburg, bringing people together around the fire for a proudly South African day of food, music, art and togetherness.
From the ground, 125 braais became 125 places for South Africans to gather, cook, eat and connect. From the sky, they formed the Heinz label, one enormous symbol of Heinz finding its place in Mzansi.
Rather than telling South Africans how to braai, Heinz, a food brand with over 150 years of heritage, came to bring its own taste to the table and let South Africans decide for themselves.
And Mzansi answered.
Heritage meets heritage
As part of the celebration, Heinz partnered with South African artist, Ricollin to paint a tribute to South African heritage in Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Working live, Ricollin brought together symbols of South Africa, its people, its food and its culture, around the Heinz bottle, as guests watched two heritages meet on a single canvas.
It was bold. It was proudly South African. And it could only have been Heinz.
“Heritage Day is about honouring where we come from. Heinz has spent over 150 years joining family tables around the world and seeing that heritage meet South Africa’s around 125 fires was deeply moving. We didn’t come to tell South Africans how to braai. We came to earn our place at the table, and today Mzansi made room for us,” says Passant El-Ghannam, CMO Middle East & Africa, Kraft Heinz.
Call it ketchup. Call it tomato sauce. Just taste what your braai has been missing.
With Heinz on the table around every fire, perhaps the name matters less than the taste. And that taste is something Heinz never compromises on. Heinz is obsessed with quality: every bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup starts with tomatoes grown from Heinz’s own seeds, so it has the same balanced taste, right colour and rich texture anywhere in the world.
Heinz arrived with a story of its own. On Heritage Day, it celebrated the story of the country it now wants to call home.
125 braais became one Heinz Keystone label.
Ketchup became paint.
More than 2,000 strangers became one Heritage Day celebration.
For one big day in Johannesburg, Heinz didn’t simply put its sauce on the braai.
Heinz became part of the braai.
Links to High Res images here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gxZqNLD8qBA1x4LoZBCs6YrBuC-UIGa7?usp=sharing
About Kraft Heinz:
Kraft Heinz (NYSE: KHC) is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with approximately $25 billion in net sales in 2025 and a portfolio of iconic brands enjoyed by consumers in more than 40 countries. By investing in our capabilities and brands, including Heinz, Kraft, Philadelphia, Primal Kitchen, and Lunchables, we are unlocking the full power of our portfolio. We deliver high-quality, great-tasting, and affordable food for the consumers of today, while shaping the future of food. Learn more at www.kraftheinzcompany.com.
From above, 125 braais came together to form one giant Heinz Keystone label as more than 2,000 South Africans gathered to celebrate Heritage Day and National Braai Day in Johannesburg.
South African artist Ricollin paints a tribute to South African heritage live in Heinz Tomato Ketchup during the Heinz Heritage Day celebration, bringing two food heritages together on one canvas.
South Africans gather around the communal braai table at Heinz’s Heritage Day celebration in Johannesburg, as 150 years of Heinz food heritage met South Africa’s rich braai culture.
INFO SUPPLIED.