Heinz Ranks Number One In Annual American Customer Satisfaction Index

Business Wire, Nov 13, 2007

PITTSBURGH -- H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) scored the highest of any company, in any industry, in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) by the University of Michigan. Heinz has been the index's top-rated food company for eight consecutive years. In this latest survey, Heinz scored the index's highest rating of 90 (out of 100), which was up three points from the Company's score of 87 in 2006.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. It is updated each quarter with new measures for different sectors of the economy replacing data from the prior year. The overall ACSI score for a given quarter factors in scores from about 200 companies in 43 industries and from government agencies over the previous four quarters.

"Heinz is thrilled with the results of the ACSI," said William R. Johnson, Heinz Chairman, President and CEO. "Heinz is pouring it on when it comes to consumer satisfaction. Our Company and our employees take enormous pride in providing the highest quality food products and outstanding service to our consumers. Our investments in innovation and quality and our expanded consumer marketing are clearly making the difference."

"Heinz is getting back to basics and focusing on what it does best," said Prof. Fornell, head of ACSI at the University of Michigan. "They may have found their secret sauce for satisfaction by making their core products even better."

The index is produced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in partnership with the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and CFI Group, and is supported in part by ForeSee Results, corporate sponsor for the e-commerce and e-business measurements.

ABOUT HEINZ: H. J. Heinz Company, offering "Good Food Every Day"(TM) is one of the world's leading marketers and producers of healthy and convenient foods specializing in ketchup, sauces, meals, soups, snacks and infant nutrition. Heinz provides superior quality, taste and nutrition for all eating occasions whether in the home, restaurants, the office or "on-the-go." Heinz is a global family of leading branded products, including Heinz[R] ketchup, sauces, soups, beans, pasta and infant foods (representing over one third of Heinz's total sales), Ore-Ida[R] potato products, Weight Watchers[R] Smart Ones[R] entrees, Boston Market[R] meals, T.G.I. Friday's[R] snacks, and Plasmon infant nutrition. Heinz is famous for its iconic brands on five continents, showcased by Heinz[R] ketchup, The World's Favorite Ketchup[R]. Information on Heinz is available at www.heinz.com.