Does Kranch Sauce Really Exist?
If America was a condiment, it would be Heinz's Kranch for sure. Based on the picture of the bottle, posted by the official Facebook page of AJ's Surplus Grocery and reshared by Snopes, Heinz appears to have released a two-in-one sauce combining American staples ketchup and ranch.
Skeptics across social media found it hard to believe that Heinz would release such a product for as little as 99 cents, but a listing on the Heinz website confirms that Kranch is as real as can be. Though it wasn't until June 2021 that Kranch started to trend online, Heinz actually released Kranch back in April 2019 and announced it as part of a giveaway on Twitter.
Despite Heinz being the subject of several social media hoaxes that involve photoshopping sauce bottles to create flavors like Mayoreo, the company does in fact have a Mixed by Heinz collection, and Kranch is just one of its seven sauces. The other flavor mashups include Mayochup and Ketchili, but the brand has also concocted non-ketchup flavors such as Buffaranch, Honeyracha, Mayomust, and Mayoracha.
What does Kranch taste like?
Though it might seem obvious by the name that it's a half ketchup, half ranch hybrid, Kranch is labeled simply as "saucy sauce," and there's no actual mention of ketchup or ranch anywhere on the packaging. Only on the Heinz website does it mention the two ingredients, referring to Kranch as a sauce that "combines the delicious taste of classic ketchup and ranch and a special blend of spices."
A video on YouTube channel Timmy's Takeout explains why Heinz didn't just refer to Kranch as ketchup with ranch: It doesn't quite taste like a combination of the two. "It's just the most sweetest, most processed ranch I've ever tasted in my life," the review described. Heinz may be known for their ketchup, but apparently Kranch is a lot more ranchier than ketchupy. As Timmy's Takeout went on to elaborate, the flavor is more reminiscent of Hidden Valley Ranch than restaurant-style ranch. Although Kranch is convenient and does in fact exist, as it turns out it's definitely catered more toward ranch lovers than ketchup lovers.