Frustrated by half-used ketchup packets? Heinz's 'Packet Roller' may be the solution

You can say goodbye to half-used ketchup packets that leak on your pants. Kraft Heinz has announced a new product that claims to squeeze out every last drop from your takeout condiments.

Heinz's "Packet Roller" went on sale earlier this month. For $5.70 a piece, the ketchup bottle-shaped (and key chain accessory-sized) gadget cuts corners of condiment packets and helps roll out the small bags to efficiently extract their sauce.

"100% sauce extraction for 100% sauce satisfaction," the food processing company advertises. "Gone are the days of fumbling with ketchup packets, pants ruined by mustard disasters, and minutes taken off your life trying to get to the bottom of that mayo packet... What was once taxing becomes simple."

The release comes not long after the ketchup shortage hit restaurants nationwide – which saw high demand for small condiment packets with increased takeout and delivery orders amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In April, Heinz confirmed to USA TODAY that it was working to increase supplies in response to chain shortages, including adding manufacturing lines to increase production by about 25% for a total of more than 12 billion packets a year.

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But this rise in single-serve, takeout condiment packets has caused heightened concern for negative implications on the environment. During 2020's surges, Kate O'Neill, a professor in the department of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California, Berkeley, explained to CNN how nonpaper condiment packets are nearly impossible to recycle.

"It adds in to the huge volume of single-use disposable plastics that we're seeing in general," O'Neill told the outlet. "These packets will show up in the waste stream."

In 2018, Heinz pledged to make all its packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable globally by 2025. And some note that the new Packet Roller could help to reduce condiment packaging waste – as using every last drop of sauce in packets could decrease the number each consumer uses.

"Our packets bring the magic to mealtime no matter where people are having their burger and fries but squeezing out every drop is no easy feat," said Ashleigh Gibson, Heinz Brand Director, in a news release.. "We engineered the HEINZ Packet Roller to give fans a whole new way to savor their favorite condiment and ensure the last drop never goes to waste again.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Goodbye to half-used ketchup packets: Heinz introduces 'Packet Roller'