Looks like we get to add another one to the “rip off by product shrinkage” group.
Best Foods Mayo has shrunk the Quart ( 32 ounce ) Mayo so it is now 30 ounces. So when did that happen?
I just noticed it this last “buy”, but checking the almost used up one, it is 30 ounces too. At the store, some other brand I’d never heard of was also 30 ounces. I think I need to check more broadly and see if it was a cartel action by all mayo makers (like the tuna canning folks did with their size shrink ripoff) or if it is just gradual diffusion.
IF I find anyone still selling a full quart size, I’m going to buy it just to register a lost sale for Best Foods ( aka Hellmann’s back east). Their web site is a very high page weight (slow) page that keeps nagging me for my location. I really don’t need a giant face staring at me out of my screen stuffing something into their mouth…
https://www.hellmanns.com/us/en/home.html
Wallmart mayo search looks like it is a collusion action, since Kraft is also 30 ounces now. It also looks like the pint has shrunk to a 12 ounce squirty thing or a 15 ounce jar. The house brand (“Great Value”) is also 30 ounces, so likely either Best Foods or Kraft repackaged. There is a listing for a “Duke’s Real Mayonnaise” in 32 ounces, so if my local market has it, I guess it will be my next mayo.
https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=mayonnaise&cat_id=976759&typeahead=mayonnaise
https://www.dukesmayo.com/
It does look like Kraft and Hellmann’s / Best Foods have not changed the giant 48 ounce or gallon sizes (yet…) but we could not eat that much in a year or two if we tried. Duke’s also comes in the more standard 8 ounce and 16 ounce jars.
Per the Walmart page, “Smart Balance” also still comes as a full quart jar. I may try it (made with a “better” blend of oils / fatty acids)
https://www.smartbalance.com/products/mayonnaise/omega-plus-light-mayonnaise
There’s a total of 300 entries spread over 20 pages on that Walmart link. I’ve scanned the first 100. There are a couple of more honest quarts and pints, and a whole lot of odd / strange sizes. The ones I didn’t single out tend to be “organic” or some other special feature. Mostly it is just the same makers in several varieties of oil used, with lime juice or not, organic or not, and some strange package types. There were a couple more strange brands in 30 ounce that I’d now suspect are a Kraft or Hellmann’s house brand package for some reseller; or maybe they just saw the “size leader” shift packaging and it was long enough ago that they had time to shift too.
In ConclusionWell, much as I have been comfortable just using Best Foods Mayo since we had it in the restaurant when I was a kid (and before merger with Hellmann’s IIRC); I’m not fond at all of the subtle rip-off of a size shrink.
This means some other brand is in my future. I’ve used Spectrum before and it was good. They are still full pints and quarts. So there are some choices.
http://www.spectrumorganics.com/products/mayonnaise/
We’ll see what the local stores have and make some choices. I’ll also be doing a “price / unit volume” comparison and / or read the posted value if the store does that. Clearly now you can’t just look at the price on Mayo anymore.
It also looks like being suspicious of Kraft and Hellmann’s / Best Foods other products is also in order, so mark your shopping list accordingly. Kraft and Heinz merged some time back, so that includes all Heinz products as well.
http://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/
Oh Well. I don’t like doing business with folks who have shady behaviours, no matter how good the product. So even if I have to “pay up for honesty”, I’ll do so. Heck, I might even pay extra and get the Organic or High Omega-3 versions if that’s the only choice.
I only hope that the small sellers don’t copy-cat the big guys on this and some choice for honest sizes stays in the market place. FWIW, this is an example of what happens when some players get big enough they think they can force monopoly or oligopoly behaviours into the market. Shrink the size and the customer just has to put up with it.
One hopes there is still enough competition in the mayonnaise market to keep that from working as planned.
Subscribe to feed
- Share
