Kraft Heinz says no plans to ditch Pittsburgh while undergoing corporate breakup

At least some part of Kraft Heinz will stay in Pittsburgh as the processed food conglomerate divides its brands into two new companies.

Kraft Heinz said Tuesday while announcing the split it has no plans to move its co-headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago.

That’s about all the company offered on keeping its longstanding ties to Southwestern Pennsylvania, where Heinz — and later Kraft Heinz — has been based more than 150 years.

In 1869, Henry John Heinz started making horseradish in Sharpsburg. By 1888, he was producing ketchup under the H.J. Heinz Company name. When he died in 1919, Heinz had more than two dozen factories in the U.S. and abroad.

Heinz ceased manufacturing at its North Side plant in 2000 but kept its corporate presence in Pittsburgh.

In 2015, it joined with Kraft in a $23 billion deal that promised to bust stagnant growth through meticulous cost controls and economies of scale. But sluggish sales proved too much to overcome as consumers turned toward generic brands and, more broadly, away from processed foods.

News of the pending split leaked in July.

More than $50 billion in market value has vanished since the merger.

The split won’t be as simple as returning Kraft and Heinz to their pre-2015 states.

Kraft mac and cheese, for instance, will go to one company called, for now, Global Taste Elevation. This firm will also house Heinz ketchup. Both products are primed to “accelerate” in growth, according to a presentation on Tuesday for investors.

But Kraft’s individually wrapped cheese slices will fall under another company, known for now as North American Grocery. Lower-performing brands appear to be clustered in this spin-off.

The final names of the companies will be released ahead of the transaction closing, which is expected to happen in the second half of 2026.

Kraft Heinz has about 36,000 employees worldwide. That’s 10,000 or so fewer workers than it had shortly after merging.

The company declined to say how many workers it has at its PPG Place headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh or whether both spin-offs will keep a presence in the city.

Kraft Heinz stock plunged by about 7% Tuesday morning. The fall in stock price accelerated after billionaire Warren Buffett said he’s “disappointed” by the split in an interview with CNBC.

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, masterminded the merger and is Kraft Heinz’s largest shareholder.