Historical Timeline

In 1912, Richard Hellmann, a delicatessen owner in New York, began to sell his Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise in wooden containers. One year later, in response to a very strong consumer demand, Mr. Hellmann began to market the mayonnaise in glass jars.

Another restaurateur who was a pioneer in the business was Joe Marzetti. He opened a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1896 and began to serve customers a variety of dressings developed from old country recipes. Consumer acceptance led Mr. Marzetti to bottle and sell his dressings to restaurant customers in 1919.

Also in 1926, the forerunner of the Association for Dressings and Sauces was organized. In 1920, eight years after Richard Hellmann first sold his mayonnaise to his delicatessen customers, Mr. Hellmann opened a plant in Chicago. Two years later, his second plant began operations in New York. Trucks delivered Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise to local retail outlets.

From 1920 through 1923, Nalley’s Potato Chip Company introduced its own brand of mayonnaise in the Northwestern United States. In New England, John Cain, a cheese distributor, also began producing mayonnaise and on the West Coast, Bestfoods was formed in 1924 as a result of a merger of a mayonnaise and margarine company. Bestfoods’ Gold Medal Mayonnaise soon began distribution.

In 1925, The Kraft Cheese Company entered the salad product business. Kraft purchased several regional mayonnaise manufacturers, firms such as The Gelfand Manufacturing Company, A.E. Wright Company, Henard Mayonnaise Company and Gilbert J. Easton, Inc. Also in 1925, Kraft purchased the Milani Company, Inc. This purchase resulted in Kraft’s initial entry into the pourable dressing business with French dressing as its first flavor.

In 1929, Blue Plate Foods, Inc. was founded as a subsidiary of Wesson Oil, and Blue Plate Mayonnaise began production that year with New Orleans becoming its first market. Also in the South that same year, C.F. Sauer purchased Duke’s Mayonnaise and began increasing its distribution. Bama Mayonnaise was also introduced at this time.

By the end of the 1920’s, the convenience of store-bought dressings had been accepted by many American women. However, on October 29th, 1929, the stock market crashed and brought an end to the boom and prosperity of the Twenties.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s followed, and economic woes abounded. Nine thousand banks failed and prices of industrial stocks fell about 80%. In 1933, the unemployment rate reached 25% or about 13 million persons. The popular song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” expressed the nationwide despair. Out of necessity, the American homemaker became much more cautious in spending habits, less frivolous in meal preparation and more concerned about value for the dollar. Convenience items such as bottled mayonnaise and salad dressing were still welcomed in most kitchens, but the average consumer needed reassurances about value and quality.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s followed, and economic woes abounded. Nine thousand banks failed and prices of industrial stocks fell about 80%. In 1933, the unemployment rate reached 25% or about 13 million persons. The popular song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” expressed the nationwide despair. Out of necessity, the American homemaker became much more cautious in spending habits, less frivolous in meal preparation and more concerned about value for the dollar. Convenience items such as bottled mayonnaise and salad dressing were still welcomed in most kitchens, but the average consumer needed reassurances about value and quality.

Mayonnaise manufacturers responded. Kraft Mayonnaise, now a national brand composed of former regional companies, affirmed itself as “Kitchen Fresh” on its label and in its advertising. The copy stated “Every few days it is delivered to your grocer… newly made.” The other “national” brand of mayonnaise was formed by the merger of Hellmann’s Blue Ribbon and Bestfoods’ Gold Medal. These two brands then began to merchandise their products as being real mayonnaise. This qualifier continues to appear on both brands’ labels years later.

Another way in which manufacturers responded to the economic hard times of the 1930’s was through development and introduction of new products, items specifically suited to a more cautious, value-oriented consumer.

The most prominent of these new products was Miracle Whip Salad Dressing. It was introduced by the Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corporation in 1933. Miracle Whip’s introductory advertising campaign was the largest for any grocery product up to that time. The Miracle Whip brand utilized a radio and print campaign that was a $439,000 effort – an amount that was unheard of at the time.

Turning economic bad times into a marketing opportunity, Kraft introduced the brand with the headline claim “It costs one third less, yet thousands prefer it to mayonnaise!” A “double your money back” offer was included. (A half pint sold for 10 cents; a full pint was 18 cents; and a quart was priced at 30 cents). In addition to the print advertising, Miracle Whip also utilized a radio campaign using famous stars Paul Whiteman and Al Jolson supporting the product.

The success of this lower-priced alternative was countered by Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise two years later. Citing the key difference between Miracle Whip Salad Dressing and mayonnaise, Claudette Colbert proclaimed “Water is free.” The famous star explained that water was the reason salad dressing cost one-third less than mayonnaise.

While the Thirties were a very difficult time for both the country and its industries, producers of mayonnaise and salad dressings prospered as a group. Market research was conducted by the Association to provide information to help members’ sales efforts. Calls were made on retail grocers, delicatessen owners, chain stores and housewives. Women were very interested in new ways to use mayonnaise and salad dressings.

The Association also assisted manufacturers and suppliers by serving as a spring board for the adoption of the industry’s first standards. In cooperation with the Department of Commerce, glass container sizes for mayonnaise and kindred products, such as salad dressing and sandwich spread, were instituted. Also, agreement was reached that industry products would be designated by fluid measure, rather than by weight. Adopted in 1931 to become effective in 1935, glass capacities were: 4, 8, 16, 32 and 128 fluid ounces. With the exception of the 4 oz. size, these sizes are still prevalent today.

Association members also were concerned about product quality and, in the Thirties, talk began of developing standards to assure consumer satisfaction.

The 1930’s brought tough challenges, but through the hard work of various manufacturers and the Association, annual industry sales more than doubled from 1930 to 1940; from 21.2 million gallons to 43.7 million gallons.

As America was recovering from the Great Depression, the 1940’s brought war to Europe and the Pacific. A major new problem faced the mayonnaise and salad dressing industry — fats and oils were needed by the government for the war effort, and an acute raw material shortage resulted. Not only were manufacturers plagued by the shortage of supplies, but also by the consumer rationing that followed. Meanwhile, the Association concentrated on adopting quality standards for ingredients, so wartime substitutes would not lower finished product quality. Purchase specifications were developed, in cooperation with government procurement officials, to assure quality products for the armed forces. After the war, some 10 million men and women came home conditioned to using mayonnaise and salad dressings at many meals.

However, manufacturers had difficulty obtaining raw materials to satisfy this ready market. Fats and oils, along with wheat, were critical in the fight against hunger in wartorn Europe. Popular magazines carried cartoons highlighting the shortage. The
Association fought hard to have wartime controls and restraints lifted, and ultimately succeeded.

Also in the 1940’s, the Association changed its name to the Mayonnaise and Salad Dressing Manufacturers Association to recognize the consumer acceptance and growth of the now #2 product in the dressings category.

After World War II and the final lifting of restrictions on fats and oils, the industry began to grow in a third product area. If mayonnaise was the leader with spoonable salad dressing a close #2, pourable salad dressings emerged in the late Forties and the 1950’s as a very important third segment within our industry. Many new pourable products were introduced during this time. Like the beginnings of store-bought mayonnaise, many brands were able to trace their origins to restaurant owners. For example, in the late Forties, the Pfeiffer family opened a restaurant in Buffalo, New York  and began to produce their own Italian dressing. This preceded the introduction of both Kraft and Wish-Bone Italian. Soon, the Pfeiffers began to produce other flavors.

Also in the late Forties, the seven Hoffman Brothers opened the Hoffman House Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. They began to feature salad dressings produced from recipes, which the brothers had collected while serving in Europe during World War II. Commercial production of Hoffman House Salad Dressings began a few years later in 1953. In 1948, Phil Salomi opened his famous Wish-Bone Restaurant in Kansas City. Soon,Mr. Salomi’s Italian Dressing was the most enthusiastically received item on the menu. Customers would bring their own bottles to the restaurant to have them filled for one dollar per bottle. Mr. Salomi began commercially marketing his dressing.

Between 1925 and 1950, Perry Bernstein’s (of seafood sauce and wax carton fame) line of Roquefort and other dressings was so well received by the California restaurant customers that a bottling machine was installed so that customers could take the dressings home. By 1950, the dressing sales had so increased that the Bernstein family opened a manufacturing plant in nearby Seal Beach, California, producing an assortment of dressings and sauces.

And finally in 1954, the Frenchette Division of Carter-Wallace introduced its low calorie pourable salad dressing with ads such as the new Frenchette contains only one calorie per tablespoon serving. While this product may have been slightly ahead of its time, everyone is aware of the tremendous growth that reduced calorie segments have experienced in recent years in the mayonnaise, spoonable salad dressing and pourable dressing markets.

In addition to the many new product introductions seen in the pourable category, the 1950’s also saw the adoption of the first federal standards of identity. After about 25 years of industry lobbying, minimums for critical ingredients were set for mayonnaise, spoonable salad dressing and French pourable dressing. The Association believed these minimums were compromises — standards lower than the Association desired — but certainly better than no minimums at all.

Also during this time, the Association’s Technical Committee was studying methods by which rancidity could be retarded by antioxidants in the many new, non-standardized pourable products. The subjects of automation and continuous processing were other areas of Association work in the Fifties.

The Association, sporting a new logo, also started to actively promote industry products. In cooperation with Owens-Illinois, the Association launched “Mayonnaise and Salad Dressing Week” to illustrate how much society has changed in the last 30 years, and in turn, how much the Association has changed in the promotion of our products.

Twin Hollywood starlets — Miss Mayonnaise and Miss Salad Dressing — were shown mixing a salad. They were clad in short shorts and on top, they wore strapless halters covered in lettuce leaves. Their photograph and an accompanying press release were sent to trade papers and magazines. Media pickup of the material was described at the time as “extraordinary.”

By the end of the 1950’s, industry sales had climbed to 137.1 million gallons. Earlier, mayonnaise had lost its #1 position to spoonable salad dressing. Mayonnaise volume now totaled 55.4 million gallons; and spoonable salad dressing was slightly higher at 57.1 million gallons. Pourables reported the largest percentage of sales increase in the Fifties, almost tripling their volume, from 6.3 million gallons in 1950 to 17.5 million gallons in 1960.

In the early 1960’s, barbecue sauces were introduced nationally reflecting the fact that “convenience” and “leisure time” were words heard more and more frequently, not only in homes across America, but in marketing meetings throughout the dressings and sauces industry. The backyard grill and barbecue sauce went hand-in-hand with a new lifestyle many Americans were adopting. Also, more and more women were working.

By 1960, more than one-third of all women held jobs outside the home. This led to greater affluence for the average American family and increased the demand for convenience in food items. The pourables segment of the industry responded to this marketing environment with an explosion of brands and new flavors.

In the 1960’s, the Association again changed its name and logo becoming the Mayonnaise and Salad Dressings Institute. The plural on “Dressings” represented acknowledgment of both spoonable and pourable dressings, and the increasing variety of flavors in the pourables segment.

Many new programs were undertaken by the Institute. Plastic containers and their applicability for dressings were evaluated. This research paved the way for conversion from glass gallon containers to the lightweight plastic for our foodservice customers. Also, for foodservice operators, the first “how to” handbook was written. It provided information regarding purchasing, storing, handling and serving of dressing products.

During this time, the Association and its members succeeded in having the Code of Federal Regulations revised to acknowledge acidic dressings as bactericidal for Salmonella organisms. This laid the groundwork for the task of erasing the myth from the public mind that dressings can cause food poisoning. It also caused dressings to be removed from “potentially hazardous” food lists in various public health publications. In addition to these efforts, the Institute established an Executive Technical Board. Its purpose was to oversee and coordinate the work of the rapidly growing and increasingly productive technical committee.

Finally in the 1960’s, companies began to use a relatively new advertising medium — television. By that year, 87% of all U.S. households had a television set. Kraft first advertised four pourable dressings on the air in 1961 and advertised mayonnaise in its second commercial. Industry sales actually grew 63% during the Sixties. Leading this volume was mayonnaise, which surpassed salad dressing in total sales. Mayonnaise reclaimed its #1 position with 92.5 million gallons. Pourable dressing doubled their volume between 1960 and 1970 with sales totaling 34.3 million gallons. Adding up all the segments, the industry ended the 1960’s with yearly sales of 218 million gallons.

In the 1970’s, health and nutrition became increasingly important to the American consumer. Efforts to eat a better balanced diet led to green salads being included in the meals of more and more households. This, in turn, caused the pourable dressing segment between the years of 1970 and 1975 to experience the fastest growth period in its history. This tremendous performance was not only due to greater consumer usage of regular, core flavors and brands, but also to new product types and a new flavor direction. Reduced calorie pourables were being introduced by many manufacturers and were fueling much of the total segment’s growth. Reduced calorie products had been on the market since the 1950’s, but did not experience major volume growth until this period. Wish-Bone’s new low calorie dressing ad read “The hip bone’s connected to the Wish-Bone.”

In the late 1970’s, refrigerated dressings started to make their presence felt in the marketplace. This new product form was not found on the grocer’s shelf, but in the produce section adjacent to lettuce and other salad ingredients. The popularity of these dressings continues today. In addition to reduced calorie formulations and refrigerated brands, a new flavor direction appeared in the 1970’s. This new flavor was marketed in a new product type. Hidden Valley Ranch introduced, in the mid-1970’s, its original ranch dressing. It did not come in a bottle, but in a dry mix packet. The company later introduced the ranch flavor in bottled form and added flavors. Pourable competitors have introduced their own ranch or buttermilk versions. Today, this flavor segment is one of the largest in the industry.

In addition to the tremendous growth of the pourables segment, the 1970’s marked an era for the industry described by the phrase: “Rush to Regulate.” Both federal and state agencies seemed to add layers of regulations and red tape business processes. Manufacturers and suppliers had to respond to the FDA, the EPA, OSHA, the FTC and the USDA. The government was interested in everything from labeling to energy conservation and waste management.

In contrast to the “Rush to Regulate” method of maintaining adequate control and standards, the dressings and sauces industry has always advocated self-regulation. Since Richard Hellmann’s early days, the industry has been concerned with the consumer’s welfare and has worked continually to protect it. For example, members of this group voluntarily added ingredient labeling long before it became mandatory. Also, the first edition of the industry’s “Quality Assurance Guidelines” was widely hailed by regulators as a model for other segments of the food industry.

Also in the 1970’s, the Association embarked on an effort to learn more about its customers, similar to its research efforts in the 1930’s. The expanding foodservice market was examined to determine key trends and customer preferences, both nationally and by region. The Association appointed a Consumer Awareness Committee to plan how the industry could best fulfill the needs and wants of customers in the years ahead.

Finally during the Seventies, the Association approved a new name and logo. “The Association for Dressings and Sauces” was adopted to reflect the growing importance of condiment sauces manufactured by our members. This name and logo are still used today.

In the 1980’s, the growth and expansion of all areas of the industry continue with a proliferation of new brands and flavors.

In the viscous market, reduced calorie mayonnaise and salad dressing brands have been the stimulus to growth, representing a 130 million pint business and representing 12% of the total viscous market.

Weight Watchers, at the beginning of the Eighties, introduced its brand and created this sub-segment. The Weight Watchers products were joined by Kraft Light Reduced Calorie Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip Light Reduced Calorie Salad Dressing, Hellmann’s and Bestfoods Light Reduced Calorie Mayonnaise and many others.

Another segment of the industry which saw tremendous expansion in the Eighties was barbecue sauces. New brands and new flavors have the market. “All Natural”, “Mesquite-Flavored” and “Chunky-Style” were all new options available to the consumer. The 1980’s also saw a great increase in the number of packaging alternatives available to the consumer. Tamper evidency was now available on a multitude of viscous, pourable and barbecue sauce brands. Plastic packaging was also introduced which was lighter, easier to handle and suffered less breakage. Finally with plastic, came another new product form — squeeze packaging. It became available in the pourables and barbecue segments as well as in the viscous market. Blue Plate Mayonnaise and Salad Dressing introduced their squeeze flankers in the spring of 1986 with Kraft Real Mayonnaise following later that summer.

The 1980’s also were an extremely busy time for the Association. Under the guidance of the Consumer Awareness Committee, the Association sponsored, for the first time, a continuing, year-round promotional program, as opposed to the formed special events or “weeks”. This comprehensive, cooperative effort was planned to complement, not replace, individual member programs. This effort reached numerous and broad audiences — homemakers, foodservice operators, home economic teachers.

The Association’s technical program expanded in the Eighties as well. Committees of industry members began in-depth, long-term studies of emulsions. Recommended testing methods were developed to ensure safety of industry products. Seminars were conducted to help provide plant operating personnel necessary skills in areas such as microbiology and quality assurance management.

Legislative and regulatory matters continued to demand concerted industry action. Sulfites, food coloring and pesticide residues are examples of areas in which the Association represented its members in the regulatory process.

Association activity in the 1980’s also included the counseling of individual members, to help them achieve full regulatory compliance. Such service not only provided significant savings in legal costs to these members, but also established dressings and sauces as a responsible, concerned segment of the food industry.