Hellmann’s mayonnaise discontinued and leaving from South Africa

Hellmann’s mayonnaise is discontinuing the product globally due to high inflationary import costs.

The popular condiment brand is only discontinuing sales of the mayonnaise in South Africa, according to a spokesperson for the brand. The confusion started when social media users misinterpreted a since-deleted post about the change on Hellmanns’ South Africa Facebook page, which didn’t specify the country.

THE FACTS: Social media users on Tuesday lamented what they thought was the latest loss to soaring egg costs and inflation: their favorite brand of mayonnaise.

A Facebook post appearing to be from Hellmanns’ page emerged late Monday announcing that the product would be saying “goodbye.”

“It’s hard to say goodbye to delicious Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. But due to high inflationary import costs, we will regretfully be discontinuing Hellmann’s until further notice,” the post stated, alongside an image of a jumbo jar of mayo. “A big thanks to our loyal fans for all the mayo love over the years,”

“NO MORE HELLMANN’S MAYO !??” wrote one stunned Facebook user who shared a screenshot of the supposed Hellmann’s post.

“War,” wrote a Twitter user who shared the same image. And “The cost of eggs is the most likely culprit,” commented another.

However, the post was originally published from the brand’s account specifically for South Africa. That page appeared to have been taken down as of Tuesday. But not before social media users began to circulate screenshots of the post, which failed to specify that the product would only be discontinued in that country. A copy of the page showing the post remained cached online and viewable briefly Tuesday.

A quick check of the facts showed that Hellmann’s mayo was only discontinued in South Africa, something that the post did not specify. This announcement did not impact the U.S., Canada, or other countries.

According to The Associated Press, the post originally came from the Hellmann’s page that was specifically meant to be seen by a South African audience.

Similarly, Keepa finds that a single 30-ounce jar of the Reily Foods Company’s Blue Plate mayonnaise was $3.98 on Nov. 8 last year, but jumped to $4.50 in mid-December, and the price has remained volatile — dropping back to $3.98 in early January before jumping back up to $4.50 last week. Meanwhile, a 48-ounce jar of Kraft KHC Mayo has been hovering at $6.28 for the past three months on Amazon.

But in fact, the pricing problem comes from mayo’s primary ingredients, eggs and soybean oil, which have seen their prices surge throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, Bloomberg notes that mayo has the misfortune of being hit by three pandemics: 

COVID, which initially raised the demand for sandwich spreads as people ate more at home. The pandemic also set off a series of labor and supply chain issues. 

African swine fever, which has created volatility in the price of soybeans. (The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also impacted global soybean production.)

Avian flu, which helped push the price of eggs to peak above $5 a dozen in December. While prices have dipped a bit this month, the monthly average for egg prices is still tracking more than three times what it was a year ago.

In late January 2023, Facebook users shared a screenshot of a post that appeared to announce the popular Hellmann’s mayonnaise condiment would be discontinued.

“It’s hard to say goodbye to delicious Hellmann’s Mayonnaise,” the post read. “But, due to high inflationary import costs, we will regretfully be discontinuing Hellmann’s until further notice. A big thanks to our loyal fans for all the mayo love over the years.”