Page 24 - at
P. 24
A24
BUSINESSWednesday 3 February
Hellmann’s gives vegan a go after suing eggless spread maker
CANDICE CHOI declined to $1.8 billion,
AP Food Industry Writer from $1.83 billion the previ-
NEW YORK (AP) — Hell- ous year.
Although Unilever ended
This Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, file photo, shows a jar of Hellmann’s “Canola Cholesterol Free Mayon- up dropping its lawsuit
naise,” in Walpole, Mass. against Hampton Creek,
the case made the label-
Associated Press ing of “mayonnaise” and
“mayo” a surprisingly con-
mann’s has figured out that The cumbersome name suit after a backlash. tested affair. Soon after the
if you can’t beat them, you arrives in the shadow of When asked whether Hell- legal tussle made head-
might as well join them. Unilever’s public fight with mann’s new spread was lines, it was discovered that
After suing a vegan mayo Hampton Creek, a San the company’s answer to Unilever was editing own
maker for false advertising, Francisco startup that Just Mayo, marketing di- website so that some ref-
Hellmann’s parent com- makes an eggless spread rector Russell Lilly said it erences to “mayonnaise”
pany Unilever is launching called Just Mayo. Unilever was simply catering to its were changed to “mayon-
its own eggless spread. The sued the company in 2014, customers’ tastes. naise dressing.” It turns out
company said Tuesday saying that Just Mayo’s “What this is about is pro- that some Hellmann’s own
that its first eggless version name was misleading be- viding choices to the mil- products wouldn’t qualify
of Hellmann’s will hit shelves cause it doesn’t contain lions of Hellmann’s fans,” as mayonnaise either un-
later this month under the eggs, as required by the Lilly said. To appeal to der existing guidelines.
label “Carefully Crafted federal standard of identity more customers, Hell- Even after Unilever
Dressing and Sandwich for mayonnaise. mann’s is also introducing dropped its suit in the face
Spread.” Unilever later dropped the its first organic mayonnaise of a backlash, the mayon-
this month. naise saga would not die.
Hellmann’s, known as Best Prompted by an anony-
Foods in some regions, is mous complaint, the Food
by far the country’s No. and Drug Administration
1 mayonnaise though its sent a warning letter to
share slipped slightly to 46.6 Hampton Creek last sum-
percent, from 46.9 percent mer saying Just Mayo’s
in 2014, according to mar- name was misleading be-
ket researcher Euromonitor cause of its lack of eggs.
International. The parties eventually
Overall mayonnaise sales worked out an agreement
that allowed Just Mayo
keep its name, in exchange
for a few label adjustments
to make it clearer that it
did not contain eggs.
In a phone interview,
Hampton Creek CEO Josh
Tetrick said he isn’t threat-
ened by Hellmann’s latest
product, and that such
options from major food
companies will help create
a bigger market for plant-
based alternatives.q“I
