The story of REX ketchup
The younger brother of my grandpa ALBIN REITER was born in 1907. He spent his young years at Arad at the bank of the Maros river, still a part of Hungary in those times. The family sent him to learn how to be a shop attendant, but he showed great abilities in all kinds of sports, fast thinking and learning, music and card games. He was loved by everyone for his huge voice and nose and his stories were always putting him in the centre of the company. For instance, he learnt to play the piano in three weeks just by himself. After this, he was able to play all the top hits coming out weekly from new movies at the parties of his friends. It was a common practice in his village that in the middle of the party they put him with his piano onto a cart and the horses took him to another party while he was still playing continuously for everybody’s enjoyment.
All this happened in the Hungarian countryside during the 30’s. He married Justika a German girl in 1937 and bought a house in the middle of Hungary in Örkény where he lived with her, in love, for more than 50 years.
All this happened in the Hungarian countryside during the 30’s. He married Justika a German girl in 1937 and bought a house in the middle of Hungary in Örkény where he lived with her, in love, for more than 50 years.
The idea of ketchup production came to mind here in Örkény and the hard working Justika and Albin (the James Bond style husband) achieved worldwide success. However, in the beginning everybody in Örkény was laughing at them saying: “Who the hell is Reiter Albin and what the hell is Rex ketchup?!” But soon hundreds of local people worked for Albin’s REX ketchup factory!
Samples had been sent out to Switzerland, Sweden and Czech and turned out that Justika’s recipe together with the excellent quality Hungarian tomato is the best for the Swedish fish salads.
The Swedish importer pushed through REX ketchup on all laboratory tests and turned out to be the No1 ketchup compared to the leading European brands like Heinz, etc.! They got immediate orders from Sweden and all the countries above.
Since Hungary badly needed hard currency during the war the Hungarian National Bank gave Rex Ketchup some export subsidy to support it.
Samples had been sent out to Switzerland, Sweden and Czech and turned out that Justika’s recipe together with the excellent quality Hungarian tomato is the best for the Swedish fish salads.
The Swedish importer pushed through REX ketchup on all laboratory tests and turned out to be the No1 ketchup compared to the leading European brands like Heinz, etc.! They got immediate orders from Sweden and all the countries above.
Since Hungary badly needed hard currency during the war the Hungarian National Bank gave Rex Ketchup some export subsidy to support it.
So the export started strongly and soon reached 15 tons per week just to the 3 countries. Justika worked hard in Örkény directing hundreds of local workers and suppliers and Albin sold everything with his nice smile playing tennis and the piano all over in Europe. When Swedish partners staying in Gellért Hotel at Budapest asked for ketchup for their dinner, they were told the hotel did not have any. They started to laugh end said it cannot be since they and half of Europe were getting the best ketchup from Hungary for years called REX ketchup! So the Hotels in Budapest slowly became customers, too.
The Swedish partners offered to move the factory to Sweden in 1944 and offered a 25% profit share to Albin. He did not accept. He and Justika did not wanted to leave the friends, the piano nights, the private movie sessions and tennis party world of Örkény. At late 1944 the Russian army had arrived and the couple fled to Germany and Switzerland hoping to return soon.
The Swedish partners offered to move the factory to Sweden in 1944 and offered a 25% profit share to Albin. He did not accept. He and Justika did not wanted to leave the friends, the piano nights, the private movie sessions and tennis party world of Örkény. At late 1944 the Russian army had arrived and the couple fled to Germany and Switzerland hoping to return soon.
Returning after more than a year nothing remained from the beautiful house, from the new vacuum tanks in the factory, nothing from their library or pianos. The Russians must have liked REX ketchup since they consumed all of the 15 tonnes of ketchup remaining at the railway station waiting for Swedish export. They did not bother to open it they just simple broke the neck of the bottle…
They never managed to reopen the factory since the communist regime had just taken power. Albin became the financial director at the local agricultural cooperative and Justika started to teach piano at the music school of Örkény. They managed living a happy life even during those hard and dark times visiting relatives in Switzerland and my diplomat Dad in Rome when they could.
They never managed to reopen the factory since the communist regime had just taken power. Albin became the financial director at the local agricultural cooperative and Justika started to teach piano at the music school of Örkény. They managed living a happy life even during those hard and dark times visiting relatives in Switzerland and my diplomat Dad in Rome when they could.
I also loved Albin as did everybody else. When I finished university as a food mechanical engineer in 1980 he thought it is time to give me the forgotten recipe of REX ketchup. “You may start it up again!” he said. I was a food technology design engineer for 10 years and later the first managing director of Pizza Hut Hungary and CEO for British and American restaurant companies with 5-600 employees, so I had no time for it. I even lost the recipe! All I remember was that I have put it in a book somewhere. When I got older and not a CEO anymore I become an adviser and a part time teacher in a school for food technicians. The school had a pilot plant and I thought we should find the recipe and try the 70 years old; once so successful, ketchup again! I asked my Mother (Éva Reiter) and she searched the library, eventually finding the old secret recipe! I prepared everything by the recipe and made a pilot batch of REX ketchup. I was not the only one who loved it, so did all the students, whilst the teachers helping me were crazy about it. Everybody licked the last drops of my ketchup. I gave it to my friends and all of them said: “Just do it András!” After some years now we are present in delicatessen stores, paleo and healthy food stores, good hamburger restaurants, wholesalers and web shops while working on going back to old and new export markets!
Finally I would like to copy here the last sentence of Albin’s memoir:
I certainly will be among them!
24 of October 2014, Budapest
András Dobóczky nephew
“We have no enemies, never even had one. I am sure that we remain a good memory in the minds of people after we have gone…”
I certainly will be among them!
24 of October 2014, Budapest
András Dobóczky nephew