This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

When it comes to this staple of kitchens and diners worldwide, the most common question after "Is it ketchup or catsup?" has got to be "Heinz or Hunt's?"

The Hunt Brothers Fruit Packing Company was founded in 1890 by Joseph and William Hunt in Santa Clara, California. It was a small canning business on the ground of a ranch, delivered locally by horse-drawn carriage. In 1946, tomato sauce became the flagship product, and a marketing push made the little red cans familiar across the U.S., and lead to plethora of other tomato-based products, including spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, and, of course, ketchup.

Today Hunt's is one brand of many belonging to packaged and frozen foods giant ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) ranging from Healthy Choice to Slim Jims, from Orville Redenbacher to Egg Beaters. ConAgra reported $12 billion in sales last year.