# Best Foods becoming Hellman's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743 "2009-12-10T17:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/1 "2009-12-10T17:08:34Z")
A couple of months ago I ran out of Best Foods mayonnaise, so I went to the store to get some. They didn’t have Best Foods, but they had Hellman’s. I know that Hellman’s is the brand name in the East, and Best Foods is the brand name in the West; and the product itself is the same. Last time I was at that store, I saw that they had Best Foods back. I reckoned there was either a mix-up with the distributor, or else the distributor couldn’t get Best Foods but was able to get Hellman’s. But recently I’ve seen a couple of Hellman’s commercials. Could be that the cable company got its commercials mixed up. But it got me wondering whether there might be a name change for those of us on the Left Coast. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/2 "2009-12-10T17:24:27Z")
As far as getting the Hellman’s label, I suspect that it was due to a distributor’s actions. I’ve only seen Hellman’s labels when I go to one of the job-lots type of stores, such as Big Lots, 99 Cents Only Store, and Grocery Outlet. As for the commercials, I’d ask what channel you were watching. Some of the channels that originate on the East Coast don’t bother to ensure that all viewers are watching geographically appropriate commercials. Michaela used to bug me to take her to Cici’s Pizza Buffet when the nearest one was in Nebraska. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/3 "2009-12-10T17:39:28Z")
I hope so. I want my Hellman’s! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/4 "2009-12-10T17:40:31Z")
That’s what I thought. (Re: commercials, I’ve no idea where the nearest Sonic is!) It’s just that I got the Right Coast label, and then saw the Hellman’s commercials and it made me wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/5 "2009-12-10T17:40:38Z")
Try making it yourself! It’s dead simple. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/6 "2009-12-10T17:42:16Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > I hope so. I want my Hellman’s! Get Best Foods. It’s the same thing. 😉 > [@Quartz](#): > > Try making it yourself! It’s dead simple. I _like_ Best Foods! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/7 "2009-12-10T17:44:21Z")
According to wiki, [it’s just you guys west of the Rockies and Australia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellmann%27s_and_Best_Foods) The rest of the free world got it right. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/8 "2009-12-10T19:46:29Z")
I wish Unilever would put their own name on the front of every single one of their products, replacing whatever brand names was there before. Peoples’ heads would explode. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/9 "2009-12-10T20:53:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Get Best Foods. It’s the same thing. 😉 Ah, but [is it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellmann%27s_and_Best_Foods#Recipe_and_marketing_issues)? 😛 When Best Foods acquired the Hellmann’s brand, it was decided then that the respective recipes for both mayonnaises be preserved. Today, the two products are made in the same plant. However, at least as recently as June 2003, the recipes were almost, but not entirely, identical. From the company’s FAQs at the time: > [@](#): > > The products are basically the same. Both trademarks evolved simultaneously — Hellmann’s in the East and Best Foods in the West. Taste preferences vary; some people find that Best Foods mayonnaise is slightly more tangy. > > Both labels contain the same ingredients in the same ‘relative quantity’ order: soybean oil, water, whole eggs & egg yolks, vinegar, salt, sugar, lemon juice, calcium disodium EDTA, and natural flavors. Best Foods’ may contain more lemon juice, though the relative quantities are the same as Hellmann’s. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/10 "2009-12-10T22:24:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That’s what I thought. (Re: commercials, I’ve no idea where the nearest Sonic is!) It’s just that I got the Right Coast label, and then saw the Hellman’s commercials and it made me wonder. Nearest Sonic to my home is on Lemon St. in Anaheim, a couple of hundred yards from where that Angels baseball player got killed last spring. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/11 "2009-12-10T23:55:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That’s what I thought. (Re: commercials, I’ve no idea where the nearest Sonic is!) It’s just that I got the Right Coast label, and then saw the Hellman’s commercials and it made me wonder. Have you moved to Washington state? Mapquest puts Sonics in Bellevue, Yakima, Puyallup, Bonney Lake and Wenatchee. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foods-becoming-hellmans/520743/12 "2009-12-11T00:29:57Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Have you moved to Washington state? Yep. But I’m right up by the Canadian border. All of those places are pretty far away.