Hellmann’s mayonnaise has been around since 1913 and my family has been using it since 1952, the year my Grandmother, Mother and Uncle immigrated to the US from Germany.
When we relocated to California in 1995 we continued to enjoy it, though under its West Coast brand, Best Foods.
My Uncle and his malicious wife are still enjoying it on Long Island, no doubt.
The only product in recent times that came close, aside from the old Safeway Select version that no longer exists, is Costco’s Kirkland Signature.
Sadly, things have taken a turn.
Hellmann’s/Best Foods mayo had always been the standard by which all others were judged. Wonderful flavor. Creamy yet dense texture. The last jar I purchased looked different, however. And though there was something on there that said “NEW LOOK SAME GREAT TASTE,” it took only a dip of my spoon to know the texture was NOT THE SAME. It was as if there was more air incorporated into the product. And it follows that more air means less flavor and a deprecated mouthfeel.
Damn, you Best Foods! Oh, sorry. Damn you, Unilever!
There is nothing on the new jars that says “SAME GREAT RECIPE,” and we all know that “TASTE” and “RECIPE” are not equivalent. I don’t know exactly what changed, but I believe the product is lighter, so I’m guessing they’re using air to save money. You know, like overrun in ice cream. Crappy ice creams are high in overrun. Lots of air.
Maybe they’re looking for ways to offset their use of free-range eggs, who knows?
The unsubstantial texture and dumbed-down flavor will force us to purchase Kirkland Signature from here on out. It’s a little saltier, but thick with great depth of flavor. And it’s less expensive.
Greed. It’ll get you in the end. At least I hope so.
The vegan mayo is now replaced by vegan spread which is the worst tasting chalky stuff I’ve ever tasted. I’ll never buy this junk again. How could you go from a winner to such a loser
I feel you.
Have you tried Vegenaise? That’s the one I use for
vegan mayo.
Just Mayo is good, too.
-Renate
It’s disgusting now. Hellmann’s is or now, was the only mayo I liked. It was a family staple, if there wasn’t any Hellmann’s, we forfeited the dish/sandwich. I wrote the corporate office not long ago. The response was, the jar I bought must’ve have been an inferior batch…no, Hellmann’s is now the new Miracle Whip. I would gladly pay more for the old recipe, matter of fact, I would skimp on other groceries, just the afford it. Shame on you Hellmann’s.
I doubt they want to fess up!!!
I’ve been eating Bestfoods mayo for almost 60 yrs. The taste and texture are different now. I have tried other mayos but none came close. To bad but it was getting to expensive anyway. Don’t try to fool your diehard fans.
I know! Infuriating!
It’s like losing an old friend.
The Kirkland mayo at Costco is VERY good, but I have not seen it in YEARS!
Have you tried Duke’s? It’s good! Amazon Fresh carries it often.
-Renate
Right on!! I’m 72 yo, and have eating bf mayo all my life . It’s the only mayo my family “ use to eat”.
It definitely doesn’t have the same taste, and it is a different color.
Found out a communist Chinese company bought out the Best foods/ Hellmanns co. That’s enough for me to never buy it again!
Best foods got greedy. Sold out to the country that would love to destroy the USA. Sold out the country that has given them soooo much. Best foods sold us out……. Coward’s!!!!!!!
Yep. Greed. I will make my own mayo before I buy that brand ever again!!!
I just finished a delicious jar of Hellmanns right at Thanksgiving. I put the last couple of tablespoons in my potatoe salad, and it tasted wonderful. I opened the new jar and added it. The tast was twangy and unfresh tasting…HORRIBLE. We COULDN’T EAT IT. THREW AWAY THE WHOLE BOWL OF POTATOE SALAD, AND WILL NEVER BUY IT AGAIN. ARE YOU PEOPLE NUTS…or did Bill Gates buy you out?????
I know exactly what you mean. I was really bummed when I made some tuna salad with what is now more or less whipped air!
I thought I was goin nuts! My exact thoughts were that Best Foods is pumping air into their mayo to get more volume and yes, the taste has suffered tremendously. The truth is that the food producers are whittling away at product quality , regardless of risking brand loyalty. It’s a straightforward ripoff . Who thinks of this rationale?
BOYCOTT BEST FOODS!
It’s really sad, isn’t it?
The reason Best Foods Mayo’s taste and texture has changed is the soybean oil that so many products have sucommed to using which changes texture, taste and leaves a rancid taste in your mouth. At first I thought something was wrong with my taste..my doctor put me thru several test and went thru all the foods I ate on a regular basis, eating them one by one and discovered it was the soybean oil in the mayo. I used to use Best Foods in so many things, sandwiches, fish recipes, cakes, on and on…now not at all. Now my friends and family are discovering why their enjoyment of Best Foods is no longer…..now what to use is the problem….nothing seems to replace the sought after Best Foods delicious (used to be anyway) mayo.
The only one that comes close is the Kirkland, but I have not seen that in years! I use Duke’s, even though the flavor is a bit tangier, but at least the texture is OK. What a drag!
My sister and I just had a conversation about this tonight. No more Hellman’s for us, sad to say. Especially after decades of purchasing this product without a thought. We both noticed the difference over time. It is not the same and does nothing to enhance the flavor of salads and sandwiches. Will just try making my own if I can’t find a better brand.
We agree! Have been complaining about the runny consistency and lack of tangy taste. We thought it was because we were buying the large warehouse size. It also seems to get stale several months before the expiration date. I just used some tonight for tartare sauce
. Way….too….thin. Maybe it will firm up in the fridge before dinner.
Why would you take the greatest Mayo/ salad dressing away after we have come to know and love it for many years. We cannot make our favorite dishes anymore. It’s not the same. It’s really lame that someone can decide we don’t need it anymore or want it anymore. Whoever decided this for us needs to be ejected from the company and put the original recipe back on the shelves.
I agree. Been eating it my whole life and really feel the loss.
I grew up with Hellman’s in N.Y. Moved to the West Coast to Best Foods… I recently noticed that it didn’t taste good….. I bought a new jar, and it also tasted bad! It’s sooo sad, whoever did this RUINED my favorite Mayo!!! Shame on them!!!!!
Yep. Same here. Safeway Select used to be VERY good, but Safeway no longer carries it.
I left my reply on Twitter. I will give you some words I said: “This Mayonnaise I purchased at .79 a jar!” Now, if you’re gonna get sued for whatever reason, “Think before your Speak”! “Mama always said this to me growing-up!” We had Light Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. I prefer Original on all food items. Sometimes these Low-Fat/Light are “NASTY TO THE TONGUE!” It was Called “Best Foods of Rockies,” Now it will have a New Name: “The Worst Foods of the Rockies!” Hellmann’s will “LOSE ITS BLUE RIBBON AS WELL!” This is a concern for CEO’s to keep their mouth shut. Don’t try to be a Hero with other people’s livelihood. If you want to make something, on your own time, and you eat it wonderful. Now “Hellmann’s Mayonnaise,” has A SOUR TASTE! UGH! I read Hellmann’s Mayonnaise was pricey! I agree. So start losing Customers, go back to the Hellmann’s Mayonnaise ingredients as before, with a LOWER PRICE VALUE. When you make an error, we All have to pay a price. Now it’s Hellmann’s Mayonnaise!
IN CLOSING: “LARD AT ITS BEST!”
It’s such a drag to have a reliable product change in so many bad ways. Every other brand I use now is lacking, and I so miss the mayo of my life!
I am very disappointed in what best foods has done to what was my all time favorite mayonnaise. I don’t know what to buy now so I will either just butter my bread for my egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches and I guess my BLT as well or go to a deli meat sandwich and use mustard. My son buys his mayonnaise at Walmart and is very pleased with it so I will get some from him and try it. Darn shame but as we all know nothing stays the same forever.
Yup, you have to find a sub. A BLT is not the same without mayo!!!!
You’ve destroyed what was the “Gold Standard” of mayo!!!!!
Grew up on Best Foods…now searching out a replacement after 68 years….loyal no more!!!! Every family member and friend I know also leaving your brand.
My mother mentions this every time she needs mayo. It’s interesting how we really rely on certain classic products. This is a big one!!!
TOTALLY! Moved to California and Best Sucks…..not close to the familiar rich Hellmans. Can’t get my tuna or egg salad to taste as good anymore. Honestly I think Veganaisse may be better.
R.I.P. Hellman’s.
I was raised on Hellman’s Mayo. It’s been my favorite condiment for 74 years, and I never favored another mayo over it. One time, as a child, I was at my Aunt’s home and she used Miracle Whip. I had bad dreams for weeks lol. I’m noticing a change in Hellman’s now. It’s runny, not dense and creamy like it was. and the flavor is off. My tuna salads and egg salads are not the same. I guess Hellman’s “Golden Age” is over. It was great while it lasted.
Miracle Whip is a blight upon the earth. 🙂
i ve stopped using hellman’s mayo..bcs i found out they use senomyx ……can anyone tell me what else i might try that is perfectly healthy…..since i love mayo
i will not use any products that have senomyx or are questionable in any way.
Thank you, Laura
I like Vegenaise, but it is a FAR CRY from Hellmann’s. In tuna it’s fine, though.
I kept telling my wife that my best foods maynaise doesn’t taste the same as it used too , she thought it was just my taste buds , but I’ve been eating this most of my life and now it has an unpleasant flavor . It was perfect before . I will be looking for a different brand with more of the whole egg flavor .
Has your wife caught on to the change yet?
ive purchased 3 jars of mayo recently 06/09/2022 both times we tasted it the flavor was way off the exp.date is 2023 but it has a pickley or sour taste to eat . were now afraid to eat it is it a bad batch from factory
It’s true. It is more sour. And so much thinner and airier.
The taste of Best Foods is definitely different. I have loved it for years but now—ugh. It tastes semi rancid.
I am so sad. I have tried two jars. Both the same.
Yep, you need to find another brand, sadly.
Glad to see that I am not the only one who thinks Best Foods mayo is now awful. Maybe if enough people go to their website and complain and tell them they will no longer buy Best Foods unless they return to the original recipe and quality. Poor quality sure hasn’t affected the price, it just keeps going up and up in price.
So many of us did. I don’t think they care. There is no there there.
Best Foods Mayo does NOT taste the same. Something has changed and I do not like it. Please go back to your old formula. It was great. I have noticed the taste change for a number of months.
Don’t like the new taste of Best Foods Mayo!
Best foods is now another terrible excuse for a great mayonnaise. Why did some hot shot at Best Foods screw up the best food product I know?? Money? I would still pay top dollar for the old Best Foods mayonnaise. Common sense will tell you go back to what worked.🤦♀️
There is nothing that compares to the old BF on the market. Ugh!
They started using soybean oil, I think. And that’s all I can taste, rancid oil flavor. 40 years, and I will never eat it again.
Hellmans mayo is not the same. Just threw away a $10.00 jar. So disgusted that they think the consumer doesn’t know
I switched very recently to Kraft, because I don’t like the taste of best foods anymore. I’ve finally reconciled that I didn’t just get a few jars from a wonky batch. I’m heartbroken. I’ll be trying the Costco brand now. Thanks for mentioning it so we know what to try.
I’ll give Kraft a go. I have not seen the Kirkland at my Costco for some time. Sadly.
I totally agree. Something has changed about the recipe. It is too watery when used in dressings and salads. Does not have same texture.
Exactly!
I own a small Eatery. I have always used Best Foods. I ruined my potato salad by using it today. It tastes rancid. The date is good I just purchased it at my local supermarket. I then went to a nearby town and purchased another jar and one at Walmart. They All taste terrible. I will Not be using Best Foods from now on. I will make my own. A little more work but at least it will taste like mayo. So disappointing.
There are BEST FOODS MAYO people then there are the others who don’t care about how food tastes.
Discriminating food eaters only eat Best Foods!
This issue of changing the ingredients has turned my life and my brother’s & sister’s lives upside down, the current taste with soy bean oil as an ingredient is TERRIBLE, it’s altered the look, texture and the taste and not for the better. We switched to Hellman’s and it was very close in taste until recently and now it’s awful too!
It’s incredible that they would change the ingredients of a product that made the best macaroni & potato salad’s in the world. Mom’s recipes will never be the same. I’m a “Serious Foodie”, and my heart is broken.
No other mayonnaise will do, looks like you pathetic miracle whip people have won, just the last thing in the world I could have imagined. If anyone can give me the recipe for making the ORIGINAL Best Foods or Hellman’s mayonnaise I would reward you with a cash $$$$ donation if it’s successful.
I know. I have never found a good substitute. Everything I make now tastes different.
Have had Hellman’s all my life. Currently 76.
They have ruined the product! Tuna salad is no longer
As edible. Deli sandwiches either. They should follow
Coca Cola and go back to the original blend with a
New marketing program to promote the product as coke did. Slowly removed the “ new” coke from the shelves.
Weber
Since I was a child my mother, both grandmothers, mother in law bought best foods mayonnaise only! For the first time ever I had a jar in the fridge (brand new) used it for 2 months and it seperated. Never have I seen that happen: went to the store to buy another one and noticed the gray color on the bottom of the jars. Some darker gray than others. Then looking at them on the shelf I noticed some looked yellow in the jar like it was separating. What and why would your jars be gray? Looking at other brands I only saw the same gray on a generic brand. It was the store brand. Grabbed a Kraft jar and no gray on the bottom so that’s what I brought home and for now on until you go back to clear jars and no seperation I’m buying Kraft!!!
That’s not good. They clearly changed the recipe in some way. It’s sad when a product you’ve relied on your whole life goes south. Ugh.
I try to get Duke’s when I can. I’ll have to give Kraft a try.