Hellmann's Couldn't Beat Vegan Mayo, So They Started Making Their Own

If you can't successfully sue the shit out of them, join them. That might become Hellmann's new motto, now that they've announced they will be selling a new eggless mayonnaise. Oops, sorry. Seriously, don't call it mayo—it's a "carefully crafted dressing and sandwich spread."

The fact that Hellmann's is getting into the vegan sandwich spread business might not sound that surprising—unless you knew that they had just recently come off a litigious campaign against an eggless spread called Just Mayo. In 2014, Unilever, the owner of Hellmann's, sued Hampton Creek, the maker of Just Mayo. The lawsuit asserted that the term "mayo" was misleading in Just Mayo's name because their stuff didn't contain eggs—which, the complaint claimed, is the very essence of mayonnaise.

The litigation got so nasty that some alleged the American Egg Board was in a "seeming conspiracy" with Unilever and that they had fed documents to the FDA in an effort to bring Hampton Creek down. A backlash ensued, and Unilever dropped the lawsuit.

And now, Hellmann's—the company that said eggless mayo isn't real mayo because it "does not conform to the standard for mayonnaise"—is getting into the eggless mayo business itself.

Will ironies never cease? Apparently not.

So why is Hellmann's suddenly embracing the vegan mayo business, anyway?

Because it's big business, that's why. "Our fans have been asking us for organic and egg-less options with the creamy taste of Hellmann's for years," Russel Lilly, Hellmann's marketing director, said. Organic mayo will also be coming soon from Hellman's.

MUNCHIES reached out Hellmann's, who told us the following: "We're focused on serving our customers. We know that some of our customers want these new options, and we look forward to bringing more choices to them."

This leaves us with the following question: What is and isn't mayonnaise these days? That's a complicated question to answer, one that the New York Times calls "esoteric and complex." The FDA said Just Mayo was allowed to keep its name—even though it is eggless—because Hampton Creek agreed to make certain "labeling changes to ensure its products are labeled in a manner that is truthful and not misleading." These changes included adding the words "spread and dressing" to the label and making it clear that no eggs were included in the stuff.

When asked about the new competition, Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick, seems to be taking the high road. He said that he hopes more choices will create an expanded market for vegan products. But Tetrick couldn't help but add this: "I hope Kraft follows Unilever, then I hope Kraft and Unilever compete."

And so the mayo wars ensue. This whole debacle is making us hungry. Would someone please pass the carefully crafted dressing and sandwich spread?