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Hampton Creek’s Entire Board Leaves Except for CEO
- pnathan 9y agoI rather liked their mayo (I grabbed it at semi-random off the shelf once). Was saddened to hear allegations that they were doing weird buyback stuff in grocery stores. But this isn't a red flag to me, it's the refs walking off the field. Curious how others read it.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago> it's the refs walking off the field To stay with the sports analogy theme, doesn't that typically indicate game over?
- Neliquat 9y agoThat, or those left are free to play finacial calvinball.
- freehunter 9y agoI guess it would depend on the rules of the sport. In soccer/football, the game can't continue without the refs, but just because there are no refs doesn't mean the game is over. Sometimes they'll leave the field in protest of player or coach behavior. There's nothing a ref can do if a player refuses a penalty that was assigned to them, so they'll typically leave the field until the player accepts that he's been penalized. So in this situation, the board leaving would be a strong indicator that they're protesting the actions of the company or of the CEO. There's nothing saying they can't come back if the situation changes, or the company can forfeit the game and then it's all over.
- wavefunction 9y agoAt least under FIFA bylaws, once a player refuses to leave the field in a timely manner it's the obligation of the Referee to gather their associates and depart the field, ending the match.
- freehunter 9y agoThere have been at least some situations exactly like I described[1]. I'll admit I don't know all of the rules of the game so I can't describe what might have been different in this situation. [1] https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/02/21/bayer-leverkusen-dortmund-refs-leave-field-video https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/02/21/bayer-leverkusen...
- jdavis703 9y agoApparently there are allegations of them selling tainted food [0]... Target removed them from their shelves last month. I'm disappointed to hear about it as they're my goto mayonnaise brand, but there are now many "eggless" alternatives on the market now. [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-22/target-begins-removing-hampton-creek-s-products-from-stores https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-22/target-be...
- portal_narlish 9y agothey were never the refs -- CEO has controlled the board's vote since 2015
- strictnein 9y ago> "Hampton Creek was a young star in Silicon Valley when it began working on an eggless mayonnaise product in 2011... raising more than $220 million since it was founded" When the bubble bursts, this is going to be one of those companies we point back to, right?
- Clanan 9y agoI want to see the pitch deck that convinced investors eggless mayo was work a quarter of a billion bucks.
- benologist 9y agoWhy couldn't it be? 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. http://nypost.com/2011/09/17/hellmanns-mayonnaise-americas-best-selling-condiment/ http://nypost.com/2011/09/17/hellmanns-mayonnaise-americas-b...
- ghaff 9y agoBecause what can be so hard about "disrupting" a 100 year old brand that is probably the only mayonnaise brand that most Americans could name? Added: Yes mayo is a big market but the odds of some eggless mayo specialty product capturing a huge chunk of it is... slim.
- pg_bot 9y agoIf you want a great mayonnaise try Duke's. https://www.dukesmayo.com/ https://www.dukesmayo.com/
- brightball 9y agoWas about to add this. Seriously people, the south knows Dukes is where it's at.
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- spcelzrd 9y agoI love their products, especially Just Mayo. This is not a good sign.
- Turing_Machine 9y agoGiven that the name of their flagship product is basically a lie, I guess I'm not too surprised that they've allegedly been using other questionable labeling practices. Mayonnaise is made with eggs. By definition. Calling an eggless product "Just Mayo" (with a picture of an egg on the label, no less) is like labeling soyburger as "Just Burger" with a picture of a cow. The FDA made them use a bigger font for "Egg-Free" and make the picture of the egg smaller, but it's still deceptive, IMO.
- ghaff 9y agoThat seems pedantic. Even Cook's Illustrated for example has published taste testing of "vegan mayonnaise" I personally would have thought that an eggless mayo thing that tastes good would have made the eggless thing a selling point but I guess not. Presumably they're trying to avoid the reflexive it can't be good if it doesn't have eggs in it. (Personally I use Hellman's in any case.)
- chickenfries 9y agoI'm pretty sure the oil is the unhealthy part of mayo, not the egg.
- hellbanner 9y ago
- Overtonwindow 9y agoI think another great issue in this saga is the part played by the National Egg Board. This is a publicly funded organization whose mission is to promote the use, sale, and consumption of eggs; i.e. the "incredible edible egg" campaign. The National Egg Board is supposed to be neutral - after all it's publicly funded - but instead it was actively trying to thwart Hampton Creek, and use its position to damage sales. Checkoff boards can be very interesting when they get involved in approving one company over another. Full Disclosure: I love Just Mayo, but don't buy it because it's a bit pricey.
- gnicholas 9y agoYep, just like the dairy lobby fights against "almond milk", "soy milk", "rice milk", etc. I understand why these lobbies are doing what they do, but the end result is that customers may not get full information and products that are better (defined as healthier, lower environmental impact, or otherwise) may not survive. I'm certainly not saying that was the case with HC, but as we enter this period of "food disruption" we have to be cognizant of the possibility.
- anon4728 9y agoOddly enough, almond milk contains little almonds. http://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/07/lay-off-almond-milk-ignorant-hipsters/ http://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/07/lay-off-almond-milk-... Just drink water and eat a mostly plant-based diet.
- tedmiston 9y agoI think the product tastes great. If I recall it had a good shelf life too. I'd buy it over real mayo dollar for dollar. Unfortunately I'd been buying it from Target who is discontinuing it.