If Tomatoes are a Fruit, is Ketchup a Smoothie? HEINZ and Smoothie King Weigh In with First-Ever Tomato Ketchup Smoothie

PITTSBURGH, CHICAGO, & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 6, 2025--

While everyone knows the age-old question “is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?” recently, thousands have started asking, “if tomatoes are a fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?” Today, the global leader in ketchup, HEINZ, teams up with the world’s largest smoothie brand, Smoothie King, to go all in and settle the debate. Introducing: The HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie, the first-ever ketchup-based smoothie, which blends real fruits with HEINZ Simply Tomato Ketchup to create a delicious and refreshing summer sip. Launching during peak tomato harvest season, when HEINZ tomatoes are the ripest, the limited-edition smoothie is now available exclusively at select Smoothie King locations nationwide, while supplies last.

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With new celeb-inspired smoothies dropping almost daily and millions of social media posts about smoothies in the past year alone – including thousands a day during the hot summer months – smoothies are clearly having a moment. 1,2 The HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie blends sweet Acai sorbet, crisp apple juice, juicy strawberries, and tart raspberries with the unmistakable taste of HEINZ Simply Ketchup, which is all-natural and made with red ripe tomatoes full of vitamins and antioxidants. The result? A sweet and fruity smoothie with a bright, tangy ketchup finish, perfect for HEINZ and smoothie lovers alike.

“When we saw this cultural debate start gaining traction, we knew we had to weigh in with a resounding yes!” says Angie Madigan, Vice President of Elevation Marketing at Kraft Heinz. “The idea of a ketchup smoothie is provocative, and our top priority was landing a delicious tasting fruit smoothie with distinct yet well-balanced ketchup notes. The experts at Smoothie King helped make this dream a reality, and we’re absolutely thrilled with the final smoothie we created together. And like it does for any food – from burgers to fries to eggs – the slightly sweet and tangy taste of HEINZ Ketchup elevates this traditional fruit smoothie to new heights.”

HEINZ and Smoothie King share a longstanding commitment to deliver incredible taste with quality at the core of their products and brought this ethos to creating the first-ever tomato ketchup smoothie. For HEINZ, quality starts on the vine. HEINZ employs seven ‘tomato masters’ (the world’s top ketchup experts) who make sure each tomato the brand uses is perfectly red, ripe, and as tasty as can be. Those tomatoes then go into each bottle of HEINZ Simply Ketchup, which is made with no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives and just seven real ingredients.

Like HEINZ, Smoothie King shares a commitment to using nutritious and delicious ingredients in its products. The brand’s Clean Blends promise—a commitment to blending a more nutritious smoothie that bans a 'No No List’ of 75+ ingredients the brand refuses to use in its smoothies, including artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives—remains central to its vision to make the world a better place by nourishing healthy habits.

“After months of meticulous R&D, testing, and tasting, we landed on a savory-sweet blend that celebrates the tomato in all its glory,” said Lori Primavera, Vice President of R&D and Product Marketing at Smoothie King. “As always, our commitment to nutritious ingredients and our Clean Blends promise remain at the heart of every recipe—and this bold new blend is no exception!”

The HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie launches during tomato harvest season, when HEINZ tomatoes are perfectly ripe and ready for enjoyment, and during the dog days of summer heat, when refreshing smoothies are a must to cool off. The HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie will be available starting August 6 th for $5.70 at select Smoothie King locations nationwide, while supplies last.

To find a Smoothie King Location featuring the HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie near you, visit Smoothieking.com/ketchupsmoothie. The smoothie will be available for a limited time at all Smoothie King locations across five markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Miami, and parts of the Greater NY area and Northern New Jersey. Fans who try the delicious offering are encouraged to weigh in on the cultural debate on social using #KetchupSmoothie.

ABOUT THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY

We are driving transformation at The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC), inspired by our Purpose, Let's Make Life Delicious. Consumers are at the center of everything we do. With 2024 net sales of approximately $26 billion, we are committed to growing our iconic and emerging food and beverage brands on a global scale. We leverage our scale and agility to unleash the full power of Kraft Heinz across a portfolio of eight consumer-driven product platforms. As global citizens, we're dedicated to making a sustainable, ethical impact while helping feed the world in healthy, responsible ways. Learn more about our journey by visiting www.kraftheinzcompany.com or following us on LinkedIn.

ABOUT SMOOTHIE KING FRANCHISES, INC.

Smoothie King, the original U.S. smoothie franchise—founded in 1973—is a Dallas-based company with over 1,200 stores nationwide.

The brand is committed to its mission to inspire a healthy and active lifestyle through its Clean Blends initiative, which focuses on providing great-tasting smoothies with more whole fruits and vegetables while removing artificial flavors, colors and preservatives and added sugars in many of its blends. In April 2023, Smoothie King launched Smoothie Bowls, topped with whole fresh fruit and premium Purely Elizabeth™ granola, made with wholesome ingredients, non-GMO fruits and packed with flavor and nutrients. Smoothie King also offers retail products that include sports beverages, energy bars, vitamins, supplements and more.

Repeatedly recognized as a top franchise opportunity, Smoothie King was recently ranked #19 in Entrepreneur's 2025 Franchise 500 and #90 in Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers. The brand was also featured in the top 100 of Technomic’s annual America’s Favorite Chains data, which resulted in ranking #8 in Nation’s Restaurant News’ “America’s Favorite Chains” list earlier this year.

The HEINZ Tomato Ketchup Smoothie blends sweet acai sorbet, crisp apple juice, juicy strawberries, and tart raspberries with the unmistakable taste of HEINZ Simply Ketchup creating a bright, tangy ketchup finish, perfect for HEINZ and smoothie lovers alike.

HEINZ and Smoothie King Launch First-Ever Ketchup Smoothie Settling Ongoing Debate.

NEW YORK (AP) — An emotional plea by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and moving words from Ryan Coogler on the violence in Minneapolis stirred a National Board of Review Awards ceremony Tuesday in which Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was again crowned the best film of the year.

Coming two days after Sunday’s Golden Globes, the annual, untelevised New York gala, held in the cavernous midtown banquet all Cipriani 42nd Street and hosted by Willie Geist, played out as a more intimate and frank-spoken alternative.

The winners themselves were already announced, so the night was always going to belong to “One Battle After Another.” The National Board of review, a group that is made up of film enthusiasts and dates to 1909, not only named it 2025’s best film but awarded the best actor prize to Leonardo DiCaprio, best director to Anderson, best supporting actor to Benicio Del Toro and breakthrough performer to Chase Infiniti.

Yet in an ongoing parade of awards for “One Battle After Another,” its night at the NBRs still stood out. The surprise presenter of the movie’s best film award was Martin Scorsese, who praised “the audacity” of Anderson’s narratives and the accomplishment of his latest.

“Like all great films, it can’t really be compared to anything else,” Scorsese said. “It stands alone. It’s a great American film.”

Anderson, trying to take in the wealth of honors, attempted to describe what “ One Battle After Another,” his father-daughter tale of revolution, might represent. His answer came in pointing out his own daughter, sitting at his table.

“I don’t know what our movie is about, but I do know it’s about loving your kids,” Anderson said.

For many of the honorees, the world outside the starry banquet weighed heavily. Coogler’s speech was among the night’s most poignant. The “Sinners” director was honored for his screenplay for the vampire thriller and was introduced by the film’s star, longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan.

Both were honored 13 years earlier by the board for their first movie together, “ Fruitvale Station.” Recalling that film, based on the true story of the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in Oakland, California, Coogler turned to the recent fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an immigration enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

“I was young and naive, and I thought the movie was going to change the world and make it so you didn’t see people executed by civil service on camera anymore,” Coogler said. “I was proven wrong again and again. And it’s tough to be here and not think about Minnesota.”

“I can’t be here and not think about Renee,” Coogler added.

Still, the ceremony’s most powerful words came from Panahi, the dissident Iranian filmmaker who for nearly two decades worked clandestinely in his native country while being placed under house arrest and jailed. Panahi’s latest, “ It Was Just an Accident,” was awarded best international film.

The movie, inspired by Panahi's own imprisonment, is a revenge drama about stopping the cycle of violence and oppression in Iran. On Tuesday the death toll from a nationwide crackdown on demonstrators in that country surpassed 2,500, according to activists.

“As we stand here, the state of Iran is gunning down protesters and a savage massacre continues blatantly on the streets of Iran,” Panahi said. “Today the real scene is not on screens but on the streets of Iran. The Islamic Republic has caused a bloodbath to delay its collapse.”

“This is no longer a metaphor,” he continued. “This is not a story. This is not a film. This is a reality written with bullets day after day.”

Panahi called on the film community to speak out and “use any voice and any platform you have.”

“Today, cinema has the power to stand by defenseless people,” Panahi said. “Let’s stand by them.”

Panahi’s remarks, delivered through an interpreter, shook the audience. And when the next award went to Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, for adapted screenplay for their plaintive Pacific Northwest period drama “Train Dreams,” the filmmakers seemed to cut short their speech, which was partially about how making the movie and then promoting it through awards season meant sacrificing time with their young children.

“When the world is kind of burning down, it can feel frivolous at times,” Bentley said. “I just want to say thank you most of all to Mr. Panahi for reminding us for what we can do with the medium and why it can be worth doing.”

Jafar Panahi attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ryan Coogler attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Chase Infiniti attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Michael B. Jordan attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Benicio Del Toro attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Sara Murphy, from left, Teyana Taylor, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Chase Infiniti pose in the press room with the award for best motion picture – musical or comedy for "One Battle After Another" during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)