One afternoon in July, executives at Unilever's corporate headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., had decided it was the right time to serve up, of all things, Thanksgiving dinner. Inside the test kitchen next to a conference room, about half a dozen women in aprons and tie-back hats hurried about a long table, laying out the victuals they'd cooked especially for the occasion. The feel was festive, right down to the pine cone-and-pumpkin centerpieces on the tabletop-but the purpose was pure business. Everything on the menu was made, to a greater or lesser degree, with mayonnaise. Hellmann's mayonnaise.
That wasn't just true for the obvious dishes like the mashed potatoes. A nearby tray of savory muffins, for instance, owed its smooth consistency and delicate texture to a cup of Hellmann's. Even the turkey was made "super moist" with a generous rubbing of mayonnaise under and over the bird's skin.
Mayonnaise...in muffins? Okay, so it's not exactly the sort of thing they teach in culinary school, but if your goal is expanding market share, it's not a bad recipe. According to Jamey Fish, Unilever senior brand manager, the dinner was a real-world experiment in expanding mayo's uses -- that is, of course, assuming consumers go for the ideas.
Hellmann's (which sells under the name "Best Foods Mayonnaise" west of the Rockies) is the king of the mayonnaises. The $1.3 billion category, though considered mature, has been enjoying the vim of youth lately. Thanks to the recessionary rise of eating at home and brown-bagging lunches for the office, mayo is no longer the staid standby in the back of the kitchen cupboard. And so sales growth -- any sales growth -- is welcome news for the folks who work in Hellmann's nondescript office park in Englewood Cliffs. But Fish's efforts raise some hard questions, among them: As the recession lifts, will mayo's popularity fade once more? Will vigorous marketing be enough to overcome the market's vicissitudes? And, in these health-conscious times, is it even possible to overcome the fact that mayonnaise is among the fattiest foods on the market?
Fish seems unfazed by these challenges, and in fact welcomes the chance to steer a product he likens -- not without affection -- to a battleship. "This is a mature, large brand that's been around for a while," he says. "Growing it really takes a lot, [but] I really wanted to be a part of that."
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