Marta Pilczuk on Brits' ‘craziness’ for Heinz… and how to build on it

“London is an amazing place, but the housing market is crazy. Finding our house was a nightmare,” laughs Pilczuk, who arrived from her native Poland in January to take up her new role as Kraft Heinz’s new UK & Ireland MD.

“Second, you kind of know it logically – we’re in eight out of 10 UK homes – but you don’t feel it until you move here: Brits absolutely love Heinz. The craziness about Heinz and how quickly it gets embedded in the cultural discussion is unique.”

She should know. Pilczuk has worked in Atlanta, Amsterdam and Warsaw in her 12 years with the company and moved to her UK leadership post from the same role at Kraft Heinz Poland. She’s now nine months in and says that while the roles are “very similar” she’s had to contend with a larger, “more complex” business.

Soon the business she’s running will look rather different from the one she walked into, however. Last month, it was finally confirmed that Kraft Heinz will be broken into two independent companies – the first, provisionally named Global Taste Elevation Co, will focus mostly on sauces, spreads and seasonings from Heinz, Kraft Mac & Cheese and Philadelphia. The other will concentrate on grocery staples such as Oscar Mayer meats, Lunchables and Kraft Singles.

Kraft Heinz has struggled since the group was created by a mega-merger in 2015, with shares falling 68.3% in the decade since and revenues stuck at about the $26bn mark since 2016. Pilczuk says she cannot talk about the financials due to a media blackout but hails the split as “great news”.

The strategy behind the separation is “built around how we categorise our portfolio and the needs of those brands”, with the two new companies “designed to maximise our capabilities and brands – and at the same time reduce complexity”, she says.

Pilczuk, who will continue running the UK&I business following the separation, thinks the split will increase the brand’s relevance globally, because while the UK is “all about Heinz”, being part of a cohesive global Heinz strategy will “enable all of us to grow. Working as one taste elevation company, I see even greater opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas, share best practice and drive efficiencies.

“It’s a huge opportunity both ways,” she adds. “And I think our strategy is the same, regardless of the split. In terms of our priorities, number one is to simply grow the core. How can we unlock the value of Heinz in our core categories?

“The first pillar of this is innovation. We’re reinvesting in the brand with marketing across all our core categories of sauces, beans, pasta sauces and soups, while our pipeline of innovation is helping to recruit new Heinz fans. Our growing range of pasta sauces is a great example: born in the UK where Heinz is already well established, they’ve since launched in Germany and represent how we seed and scale innovation throughout Europe and beyond.”

Healthier takes on consumer favourites

Another key area for Heinz has been focusing on consumer trends around health. Pilczuk points to its June launch of Tomato Ketchup Zero, a no-added-sugar-or-salt spin-off of its bestselling table sauce that contains 35% more tomatoes.

She acknowledges that healthier takes on consumer favourites have not always landed well with shoppers but expects to see “TK Zero”, as she calls it, succeed where others have failed.

“You need to try it,” she says, excitedly. “It’s almost the exact same taste as our standard. That’s why I think it can succeed – because consumers can choose the healthier option without compromising on taste. We put so much time, effort and R&D resources behind it to make sure it’s the same taste. But of course we still want to offer consumers a choice, so they can choose between the standard and the Zero.”

While TK Zero offers consumers less salt and sugar, no discussion about health in 2025 can ignore the pervasiveness of the UPF debate. Pilczuk insists it’s not a development that worries her, even though the majority of Heinz’s products fall squarely into the ultra-processed category.

“The debate around health has been there for a very long time,” she says. “I think it’s not about UPF, it’s about the nutritional value of the food we are offering. If you think about a can of beans, we have so many opinions from nutritionists that this is a simple proposition that’s full of fibre and protein.

“And we’ve already been on the journey of transforming our portfolio over the years. Again, look at our beans, we offer a zero added-sugar solution as well. So, our portfolio has been transforming, and we will keep transforming it to offer whatever the consumer is looking for.”

Stopping the rot

Pilczuk is equally bullish on Heinz’s outlook, and that of the sauces and condiments category more generally, despite a difficult few years. Heinz’s volumes fell almost 20% through 2022 and 2023, as consumers moved to own-label offerings to save money during the worst of the cost of living crisis.

However, The Grocer reported last month that Heinz UK sales were stabilising after a big investment in lowering prices. UK revenues dropped another 1.5% to £953m in the year to 28 December 2024, but volumes were only down by 0.3%.

“The volume losses [in 2022 and 2023] were, for sure, significant. But what I think is important is that in 2024 and 2025 we’re growing the volume back,” she says. “We expanded our portfolio, adding additional flavours and offering different types of packaging, formats and propositions, which helped us turn around the trend on volume.”

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Indeed, the past year has seen a flurry of highly experimental NPD, including Fried Chicken Sauce, Truffle Mayo, Fish & Chip Sauce and Pickled Onion Monster Munch Mayo – all of which have proven “highly incremental”, according to Pilczuk.

“We’re expanding into new flavours and occasions. And when we look at metrics that drive the long-term health of our business, we’re feeling optimistic about where the category is headed,” she says. “What’s really exciting is what we’re seeing in mayo, where we’re growing market share and winning with Gen Z, who are looking for excitement and exploration.

“We’ve also focused on how we communicate with consumers. The Heinz brand is so strong – it was fascinating to see, for example, the debate about our Fish & Chip Sauce picking up across the nation. Being close to consumers, being on trend and delivering high-quality products is what makes Brits love our portfolio, our products, our brand.”