Mayo Magic: The secret ingredient to achieving delicious and cost-effective dishes
By now, everybody’s probably heard about shrinkflation — with experts saying it is not just a trend but a permanent hit on everyone’s pockets.
With economies recovering from the pandemic, and amid both local and global inflationary pressures — think El Niño and its impact on agri production and the upward movement of oil prices in the world market — many industries are forced to cut down their product’s size or weight to keep prices stable.
The food sector, in fact, has become some sort of a poster boy of this phenomenon — Why has my favorite siomai become smaller? Why is my pan de sal not as big as it used to be? Why do my grocery bags weigh lighter now?
All these have, pardon the pun, left a bad taste in the mouth among consumers. In a BBC report, Phil Lempert, food industry analyst and editor of SupermarketGuru, said brand loyalty has plummeted amid shrinkflation, with people often transitioning to cheaper brands for non-essentials.
This is what Best Foods’ Mayo Magic Sulit negosyo pack hopes to address for the thousands of food business owners looking to get more quality ingredients for less.
Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) Brand Manager Nicki Gutierrez noted that the bread and butter of these businesses are the crowd-favorite dishes made easily, quickly, and affordably — factors that are being constantly threatened by inflation.
“If quality ingredients become too costly, operators need to increase prices, which may result in losing diners out. This is what we aim to help prevent, and we are doing this by identifying one of the hero ingredients of the in-demand dishes and finally offering it in a Sulit negosyo pack. Getting more for less, food business operators can now create high quality dishes for a low price with our Mayo Magic one-liter pack,” she said during the Best Foods’ More Mayo, More Magic Cooking Workshop.
Gutierrez lists the advantages of the Mayo Magic one-liter pack: the recipe of the mayonnaise has been improved, it is the first in the local market to use the double whipped technology, and its pillow pouch — a first for the mayo category in the Philippines — also makes it easy to store.
In a product versatility showcase, the cooking workshop challenged attendees to create six dishes using the Mayo Magic one-liter pack. The result? Two servings of each dish, namely: an egg salad sandwich; burger, fries and dip; sausage sandwich; baked snapper, and shawarma.
“The true magic of mayonnaise itself is its versatility,” said Chef Mark Joseph – more famously known online as Chef Marky — who was joined negosyo recipe influencer Nina Bacani during the workshop.
Mayo Magic one-liter pack’s launch comes at a time when small and independent food business operators struggle to balance the quality of offerings and cost due to persisting inflation.
“We feel that the biggest selling point of this product is that it’s a no-compromise solution,” Gutierrez said.
“It’s the better choice, because it was consciously made — for recipes to be tastier; for better consumption with its reduced salt, sugar, fat and calorie formulation; and even for the planet. We’re proud to finally offer this in a sulit recyclable pack,” she added.
(Best Foods is one of the brands that Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) carries, alongside other kitchen-staple brands such as Knorr Professional, Lady’s Choice, and Carte D’Or.)