Heinz's rostered shops to fight for consumer briefs

The three-strong roster of Countrywide Porter Novelli, Shine Communications and Huntsworth Group's Counsel brand are battling it out for the business.

The pitches were confirmed by Heinz Europe general manager of corporate affairs Michael Mullen, who said: 'We are not looking to add agencies to our roster. It is these agencies that will handle our project work.'

In addition to consumer PR projects on core brands such as Ketchup and Salad Cream, it is understood that various product launches have also been put out to pitch, although Mullen would not disclose which specific products would be backed by PR campaigns.

CPN has worked with Heinz for 18 months, handling briefs such as a promotion for Baked Beans surrounding last year's Golden Jubilee.

Shine was added to the roster last month after Mullen had what he called 'informal meetings' with 'a number of agencies'.

Counsel has been Heinz's retained agency for corporate, trade, crisis and issues management work for almost 20 years.