Learn Something Every Day

All you have to do is shake the bottle first, the ketchup will pour right out. Not very scientific, but effective.

So, Nick, you only use it in bottles with a small opening.
Consumers would like it, but do the manufacturers want less waste? After all, they would end up selling less, not to mention the cost of adding the coating.

But does it work as an anti-Gekko wallpaint?

Would the companies do it? It might shrink the market from 17 billion to something less with all the ketchup people would save!

Possible problem: when the bottle is full, you tip it towards your plate and the entire contents slide out, all at once. The ketchup video demo seemed to suggest that would happen. You'd be fine with a squeezy bottle, which can be controlled with the squeezing action, but in open-top bottles the coating seems to be TOO effective.

Interesting, but according to one UK report, the majority of condiment waste breakdown looks something like this:

out of date: 34%
left over after cooking: 26%
left on plate: 20%
(Don't know about the other 20%)

Condiment/Herb offenders sorted by severity are:

Other sauces: 15.4%
Cook-in sauces: 12.2%
Herbs & Spices: 10.9%
Other condiment, spice, sauce, oil or herb: 10.2%
...
Mayonnaise / Salad cream: 4.6%
...
Ketchup: 2.9%

Proportion of the weight of food items purchased that is thrown away (mixed adult households)

Salad: 38.6%
Bakery: 23.9%
Vegetables: 14.7%
Confectionary: 11.1%
Meat and Fish: 10.4%
Condiments: 9.8%
Dried Food: 9.8%
...

Source: http://www.ns.is/ns/upload/files/pdf-skrar/matarskyrsla1.pdf

So, it kind of does look like it was a pet project that the researchers identified with, and the $17 billion (big scary number) is a rationalization after the initial impulse that was then carried out under the pretext of altruism, when in fact it was probably just curiosity and personal identification with the pet-peeves of condiment use.

Apparently the "Bagged Salad & Dressing" market (UK data) reached $10 billion in 2011 and was expected to grow as consumers become more health conscious. 38.6% of $10 billion is greater than 9.8% of $17 billion. Maybe they should have been working on a way to keep salad fresh longer.