When the bubble bursts, this is going to be one of those companies we point back to, right?
Hellmann’s alone accounted for $401.2 million in sales
last year, according to Businessweek — nearly a third of
the total $1.3 billion mayo market here.
Added: Yes mayo is a big market but the odds of some eggless mayo specialty product capturing a huge chunk of it is... slim.
Depends on the region of the country. :-) Hellman's is East Coast, Best Foods is West (same company, basically the same product).
I expect that many could also name Kraft Mayonnaise. Note that Kraft makes both mayonnaise (which has eggs) and Miracle Whip (which doesn't).
How many people know (or care) what kind of mayo Wendy's, McDonald's, etc. use?
If Hampton Creek can make a product that's comparable on taste and less expensive that market is pretty ripe for the picking.
I know that if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas, but it seems like a goal worth reaching for.
Having seen some of the messaging, the pitch isn't about mayo, it's about better food. Certain kinds of food have a pretty heavy environmental cost, HC and a number of other companies (notably http://impossiblefoods.com , again disclosure, the founder of IF was my co-adviser in grad school) are trying to create a food chain that is more sustainable without compromising taste.
When HC pitched it would go something like this: "How about a world where food tastes better than it does today, is more healthy, all while being radically more sustainable. We've done it with Mayo, invest with us and we'll do it to the rest of the food system."
On its face, not a terrible pitch, especially given that they'd created a product and gotten it on tons of store shelves in short order. There are certainly flaws at HC and in the pitch's promises and whether they were kept. But I think from the viewpoint of investors that pitch makes a lot of sense at least early on. It certainly did to me as someone who ended up working there for a bit.
Edit: typo