Unilever takes its mayonnaise very seriously. But this time, the global food giant appears to have egg on its face.
In October, Unilever filed a lawsuit against Hampton Creek, a San Francisco start-up that makes an egg-free mayonnaise substitute called Just Mayo.Unilever (UL) owns Hellman’s mayonnaise and Best Foods, and accused Hampton Creek of false advertising and unfair competition.Unilever dropped the lawsuit Thursday. The company didn’t give a reason why.
The lawsuit claimed that Just Mayo does not meet the legal definition of mayonnaise since it isn’t made with eggs. Unilever also took issue with the Just Mayo label, which contains an image of an egg, and said the vegan sandwich spread was inferior in taste and “performance” to Best Foods and Hellman’s mayo.Critics started a petition on Change.org calling on Unilever to “stop bullying sustainable food companies.” The petition received more than 112,000 signatures.
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