Condiment companies are invading spaces they have no business being in.
One partnership between a ketchup giant and a luggage brand just turned heads across the country.
And Heinz teamed up with one company on ketchup-red luggage that has travelers doing a double take.
Heinz and Canadian lifestyle brand Herschel Supply just dropped a limited-edition luggage collection that transforms the iconic ketchup packet into hardshell suitcases. The two-piece set features the Heritage Hardshell Medium Luggage at $330 and the Heritage Hardshell Large Carry-On at $280 – both decked out in unmistakable "ketchup red" that'll have TSA agents asking questions.¹
The collaboration comes after research showed one in four Gen Z and Millennials pack their own condiments when traveling.² Translation: enough people are smuggling ketchup packets in their carry-ons that Heinz figured they might as well make luggage out of it.
Food brands crash the fashion party
This is Heinz's second bizarre foray into fashion this year. The ketchup maker already teamed up with Kate Spade New York on a collection of totes, footwear, and keychains in 2024.³ Apparently watching salad dressing and ranch flavor lip balm collaborations succeed convinced Heinz that slapping their logo on non-food items was the way to go.
But they're not alone. Hidden Valley Ranch partnered with Burt's Bees on lip balm flavors including "Hidden Valley Ranch," "Crunch Celery," "Fresh Carrot," and "Buffalo Sauce."⁴ KFC joined forces with toothpaste company Hismile to create fried chicken flavored toothpaste.⁵ And Absolut Vodka worked with Heinz on a vodka tomato pasta sauce that became a TikTok sensation.⁶
The pattern is clear – food and beverage companies watched lifestyle brands cash in on quirky collaborations and decided they wanted a piece of that action. The strategy taps into social media's obsession with bizarre crossovers that generate headlines and Instagram posts whether anyone actually buys the products or not.
Herschel builds collaboration empire on unexpected partners
Herschel Supply made its name with minimalist travel gear before discovering that pairing with unlikely brands generated serious buzz. The Vancouver-based company partnered with Lego in July 2024 on backpacks and totes featuring custom brick prints.⁷ Before that they worked with Prince on tennis-inspired bags and Disney on Mickey Mouse collections.⁸
Jamie Cormack, Herschel's co-founder, said the collaborations happen "organically through friends or relationships" but always aim to "help take our brand in a different location."⁹ That's corporate speak for "we'll team up with anyone who'll get us media coverage."
The Heinz partnership checks all the boxes for viral marketing – it's weird enough to spark conversation but functional enough that people might actually use it. The bags feature tongue-in-cheek details like "tear here" graphics mimicking ketchup packets, interiors printed with Heinz packet designs, and luggage tags shaped like squeeze packets.¹⁰
Both pieces use 70% recycled polycarbonate with reinforced corners and split-design zippered closures.¹¹ The practical features matter less than the fact that your bright red luggage will be impossible to lose on a baggage carousel.
Marketing professors say brands lost their minds
Jenna Drenten, a marketing professor at Loyola University Chicago, told the BBC these collaborations represent an "unhinged, chronically online marketing era."¹² She's not wrong – we're living in a timeline where major corporations compete to see who can create the most absurd product mashup.
The shift happened because social media gave brands permission to act less corporate and more chaotic. When Dunkin' Donuts let a spider donut character take over their Instagram with raunchy posts, it proved that controlled chaos generates engagement.¹³ Traditional advertising got boring. Consumers scroll past a thousand ads daily. But a coffin-shaped makeup kit from e.l.f. Beauty and Liquid Death? That stops the scroll.¹⁴
Heinz positioned this collaboration under their "It Has to Be HEINZ" campaign that celebrates "irrational love" fans have for the brand.¹⁵ Jacqueline Lanphier, Senior Brand Manager at Heinz, said ketchup is "a non-negotiable on their packing lists" for condiment-obsessed fans.¹⁶
That's marketing spin for "we noticed people were already doing something weird with our product so we monetized it."
Limited availability creates artificial urgency
The collection launched November 4, 2025 exclusively at herschel.com for U.S. and Canadian customers while supplies last.¹⁷ The "limited edition" label and "while supplies last" qualifier create manufactured scarcity that drives impulse purchases. It's the same playbook Supreme and Nike perfected – make it limited, make it weird, watch it sell out.
Kaitlin Kocsis, Brand Manager at Heinz Canada, said fans "go to irrational lengths to make sure their favourite ketchup is with them everywhere they go."¹⁸ That justifies why anyone needs $330 luggage that looks like a condiment bottle.
The partnership makes strange strategic sense when you consider both brands share cult followings willing to pay premium prices. Herschel built its reputation on quality travel gear with personality. Heinz dominates the condiment aisle through brand loyalty bordering on obsession.
Combining those two fandoms creates a product that works as both functional luggage and Instagram bait. Whether enough people want ketchup-colored suitcases to justify the production costs remains to be seen. But in today's marketing landscape, generating conversation matters more than moving units.
This collaboration won't change the travel industry or revolutionize luggage design. But it will get people talking about ketchup in airports across America. And that's exactly what both brands wanted.
¹ "Herschel Supply and Heinz have joined forces for a limited-run collaboration live, at herschel.com," WWD, November 4, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ "For Heinz, it continues an ongoing strategy of extending the brand beyond the kitchen. In 2024, the company partnered with Kate Spade New York," WWD, November 4, 2025.
⁴ "Cult-followed natural skincare brand Burt's Bees kicked off 2024 with a wildly unexpected collaboration with Hidden Valley Ranch," ASI Central, December 2024.
⁵ "For their most recent collab, they teamed up with KFC to drop a fried chicken toothpaste," Queue-it, July 9, 2025.
⁶ "Condiment king Heinz partnered with Absolut Vodka over the summer," ASI Central, December 2024.
⁷ "Herschel Supply and Lego teamed on a new, limited-edition collection that merges visual creativity with practicality," WWD, July 2, 2025.
⁸ "Prior to this recent, limited-edition collection with Lego, Herschel partnered with Prince on a tennis-inspired capsule," WWD, July 2, 2025.
⁹ "They've all happened pretty organically through friends or relationships, either new or old," Fashionista, June 13, 2023.
¹⁰ "Both feature tongue-in-cheek details referencing Heinz branding, such as 'tear here' graphics," WWD, November 4, 2025.
¹¹ "70% recycled polycarbonate material made tough and impact-resistant to handle all the trips," Total Licensing, November 4, 2025.
¹² "Jenna Drenten, a marketing professor at Loyola University Chicago, told the BBC that such partnerships are a result of our 'unhinged, chronically online marketing era,'" ASI Central, December 2024.
¹³ "Social media has presented brands with an opportunity to engage with consumers in a more informal, often irreverent way," ASI Central, December 2024.
¹⁴ "e.l.f. Cosmetics teamed up with canned water brand Liquid Death to create a limited edition make-up collection known as the Corpse Paint Vault," Studio ID, October 16, 2024.
¹⁵ "The Herschel x HEINZ collection ladders up to HEINZ's global creative platform 'It Has to Be HEINZ,'" Total Licensing, November 4, 2025.
¹⁶ "To our condiment-obsessed fans, ketchup is a non-negotiable on their packing lists," Business Wire, November 4, 2025.
¹⁷ "The collection is available online at www.herschel.com in Canada while supplies last," Stock Titan, November 4, 2025.
¹⁸ "While we know there are restrictions on what you can pack when travelling, we know our fans go to irrational lengths," Business Wire, November 4, 2025.
