THERE is good news for Tony O'Reilly this week... and there is bad news. The good news is that the Margin's mole on Capitol Hill in Washington reports that Heinz tomato ketchup stands proudly on the middle of the table in the exclusive members' dining room, where members of Congress entertain their guests.

The bad news comes in reports that millions of British shoppers are deserting Britain's favourite baked bean in favour of bargain basement rivals. Heinz has slumped to its lowest ever share of the branded bean market with a 31.7 per cent slice compared with 41.2 per cent in August 1995, according to statistics quoted by Marketing Week. Obviously Beanz doesn't mean Heinz for everyone.