The Story of the Man Who Designed the Ketchup Bottle Upside Down for the First Time

Paul Brown in 1991 the mouth of the ketchup bottle He designed a valve that allows the sauce inside to flow easily by turning it upside down. Thanks to this simple but effective invention, ketchup designs have almost changed completely.

Bottles, which were once called a design disaster, came to life again thanks to Brown. How did this inventor really the whole ketchup industry managed to change it?

Paul Brown in the early 90s; He was working in a small shop in Michigan, USA.

As a designer and manufacturer, I initially created shampoo bottles. Store upside down without leaking He set out to make a valve that would provide Promising a customer he could do it, Brown set out to do the job using a molding press and liquid silicone.

Brown did not like using computers and usually by intuition was working. He had planned the design quite well, but the models were not working properly, yet he continued to experiment on them for days.

Materials and prototypes were expensive to create and eventually He didn’t have much money left in his pocket. The indomitable entrepreneur had borrowed thousands of dollars from 11 friends and family, including his mother, to finance his prototype.

He didn’t manage to get the design quite right, though.

The valve opens when the bottle is squeezed and automatically when the squeezing process is stopped. without leakage It had to close. Its first major potential buyer was due to arrive on Monday.

Friday 111 after failed prototype Starting to feel quite helpless, Brown called mold master Tim Socier as a last resort.

He asked if he could work all night over the weekend to make a final version, and luckily for him, Prototype 112 worked!

From this moment on, Brown’s rise began. When Monday morning comes, the potential buyer a real customer it had become.

Over the next few years, Brown’s patented valve would become popular.

Baby food manufacturer Gerber, in drinking glasses He bought the valve to use. Later, NASA also used it for its astronauts. leak-proof cups in space Bought to create. The design had already been made for shampoo bottles, and the cosmetics industry began to flock to Brown.

But Brown both Heinz and its chief rival Hunt’s When he received an offer from , he realized that he had truly accomplished something great.

Ketchup-loving consumers have been storing bottles upside down on refrigerator shelves for decades. This The system was not ideal because When a bottle not designed to be stored upside down was opened, the ketchup flowed like water.

Heinz uses Paul’s valve technology to prevent the entire bottle from being poured at once. upside down He wanted to create a new designed ketchup bottle series.

Paul went to work and applied the same valve technology to Heinz ketchup that he used for shampoo bottles.

As you can probably guess by now, The result was a great success. Heinz employees were also stunned by this incident.

Instead of shaking the bottle or removing ketchup with a knife, it would now be possible to squeeze out the perfect amount with minimal effort. The ketchup in Paul’s upside down bottle was a instead of flowing in a lump It was coming in a clean, straight line.

With the slogan “Ready When You Are” advertising campaign was started. Heinz’s upside-down bottles were an instant hit across the country. Ready-made ketchup bottles in supermarkets today, has become standard.

Continuing his success, Paul Brown named his company Liquid Molding Systems, Inc. He sold it to the company for 13 million dollars.

He paid off his debts and returned more than enough money to everyone he borrowed from. Then in Florida It’s like a corner of heaven, In Arizona, he bought a place to park his trailer and built a state-of-the-art barn.

Paul Brown, behind all the great inventions applied the principle. After hundreds of attempts, he succeeded in finding a solution to a problem that everyone knew.

By inventing the valve, he made many daily products more practical. Of course for this He had to undergo 112 experiments and stress But when he received the $13 million prize, we’re sure he thought all his efforts were worth it.

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