But first, an American icon that's taken the world by storm.
Ketchup, ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce, call it what you will.
But everywhere you go, people love the sweet, tangy red stuff on their fries, burgers, and
just about anything.
And we sure do.
In 2012, the U.S. and Canada combined consumed 390 million kilos of it.
And it seems there's a reason why.
Well, actually, five reasons why.
Fourth-generation ketchup master, Colt Reichardt, explains.
Ketchup is so popular because it's one of the few foods that triggers all five-year
taste bud senses, which are salty, savory, sweet, sour, and bitter.
And it's pretty.
All good ketchup begins with tomatoes.
Here at Red Gold, tomato paste is delivered in huge crates weighing in at over 1,300 kilograms.
The thick paste is tipped into a ribbon blender where it is softened with a giant agitator.
Today we made ketchup out of tomato paste.
But during the summer months, when we have fresh tomatoes coming in, we use about 200,000
tomatoes per batch.
The softened tomatoes are piped to a giant 5,000-liter tank.
It's Michael's job to start the ingredients pouring in.
Each batch gets the same measured quantity of water, vinegar, salt, and sweeteners,
so that every batch tastes exactly the same.
Finally, Michael adds a blend of spices.
We can't tell you exactly what's in there.
That's a Red Gold secret, but it does contain pepper and onion powder.
Basically, this is a giant pan.
But since there's no stove big enough, a heat source is put into the pan itself.
This giant rotating coil cooks the ingredients to 93 degrees Celsius.
It has the steam going through it, and it's also spinning at the same time.
Imagine like a spring on its side just rotating, and it's also heating it and mixing.
Cool. Well, hot, actually.
Next, the cooked ketchup is pumped through a homogenizer, which ensures a smooth texture.
And then, through a de-air rating, which removes, well, air.
Air causes the ketchup to discolor, so removing it helps things stay ruby red.
Finally, the ketchup is cooled, so it's ready to meet an army of bottles.
Well, back in the day, when you would fill ketchup, we would do it in glass, and it would be hot filled.
Now that we use plastic bottles, you've got to bring that temperature, that 200-degree temperature down,
so you don't melt your actual bottle you're filling, so we bring it down to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The cool ketchup is piped to the filling machine.
This machine can fill over 400 bottles a minute, which adds up to over 100 million bottles a year.
And to top it off, here come the caps.
This machine twists the cap onto each bottle with just the right amount of force.
Each cap has a foil safety seal inside.
As the bottles pass through a microwave, the heat fastens the foil tight, creating a safety seal.
Cooked, bottled, and capped, the bottles go for a ride on this conveyor system.
We pack over 25-volt tomatoes into every bottle, 20-ounce, squeezed-bottle ketchup, and that's a lot of tomatoes.
So many tomatoes, in fact, that Red Gold uses 14,000 acres of farmland to produce over 400,000 tons of tomatoes every year.
Time for the bottles of ketchup to get a label front and back.
I love this machine. Let's slow it down for a closer look.
Chad is at the Vision Systems Check, which is just a fancy way of saying he makes sure every label is perfectly straight.
But Chad loves his job and loves ketchup.
The wildest thing I've ever ate is corn chips, cottage cheese, and ketchup, and it's awesome.
Man, this guy really, really loves ketchup.
Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it.
Now the perfectly labeled, thanks Chad, and completed bottles are automatically lined up 16 to a case.
The line can pack 2,220 cartons an hour, 19 million a year.
And just watch this. This machine seals the cartons in one quick motion.
Just 16 minutes after the process began, the finished batch is ready to be shipped out from the packing room.
And in a few hours, this red gold ketchup will be in stores and restaurants across North America.
The best thing about working here is all the good, you know, the free ketchup,
but it's also the worst thing about working here is that you always smell like ketchup.
I guess you have to take the sour with the sweet, as well as the salty, savory, and bitter, just like this ketchup.
