Food Creator Molly Baz Launches Mayonnaise Brand

Food influencer Molly Baz has launched her own mayonnaise line, called Ayoh. The move marks her entry into the condiment scene—and likely proves less controversial than some of her other 2024 projects. Ayoh is only available online at launch, with a four-pack featuring 12-ounce bottles of each flavor—Dill Pickle Mayo, Hot Giardinayo, Original Mayo, and Tangy Dijonayo—setting sandwich makers back $40. Baz’s foray into mayonnaise comes as category giant Hellman’s is ramping up its marketing. In August, it launched a mayo-inspired fragrance, Will Levis No. 8, with the quarterback of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans. It followed the campaign with a Chopova Lowena handbag in September designed to hold a jar of Hellmann’s mayonnaise. “While I was working on my sandwich-focused podcast, Sandwich Universe, over the pandemic, I realized that there was a whitespace in the market for the product,” Baz told People Brands and Things. “The category felt tired and untouched.” Noting the lack of flavored mayonnaise options, she added, “It’s the perfect canvas for flavor—fat carries flavor—and yet the flavored mayo market remains relatively small. Mayo is iconic, and it holds a ton of cultural weight, much like ketchup, so that makes it a natural product for further collaboration outside of food.” Building the Molly Baz brand Baz began her career working as a line cook in New York before going on to co-found a catering company. That led her to the test kitchen at Bon Appetit, where her YouTube videos paved the way for her to become an influencer. During the pandemic, she built Patreon site The Club, published cookbooks Cook This Book and More Is More, debuted YouTube series Hit the Kitch, and launched wine line Drink This Wine. Sandwiches have been prominently featured in Baz’s various ventures, and she told Fast Company, “I always say to people: You would rather not have a bowl of cereal without milk. You would rather not have a salad without dressing. You would not want to eat a dry sandwich.” The launch of Ayoh is being promoted with a “Sandwich Tour” of some of Baz’s favorite shops across the country, including Clark Street Bakery (Los Angeles), Edith’s (Brooklyn, N.Y.), JT’s Genuine (Chicago), Loaf Lounge (Chicago), Regina’s (New York), and Wax Paper (Los Angeles). “The idea came from being closely connected to the music industry,” Baz told People Brands and Things. “My manager and business partner in Ayoh works with a ton of musicians and artists, many of which have become friends of mine. He is constantly on the road with them, traveling around on tour. Which got me thinking: If a coveted musician can go on tour, why can’t a coveted condiment?” Baz's controversial marketing plays Getting into the condiments game is a tame move compared with some of Baz’s other ventures this year, which coincided with her pregnancy and the birth of her son in June. Breastfeeding startup Swehl featured a pregnant Baz on a billboard in New York’s Times Square in May, with a visibly pregnant belly and breasts covered by a rhinestone bikini top and cookies. But Clear Channel Outdoor took the billboard down within three days, citing guideline violations regarding acceptable content. The out-of-home advertising company substituted an image of Baz in more conservative attire, in the kitchen, eating one of her cookies. Swehl said later that month that it experienced a 500% increase in traffic to its website, drawing in 40,000 new users, thanks to thecampaign. The controversy didn’t slow Baz, as she became the first pregnant woman to appear on a cereal box in June, for Kellogg’s Special K, and landed another Times Square billboard in October, this time for formula brand Bobbie. “I think people will look at Ayoh Foods and the packaging and be able to understand how that connects back to who I am as a person and what my personal brand stands for, but it also feels like it’s its own thing,” she told Fast Company. “That’s been another important element of it all: Being able to evolve and have different extensions of my brand as I grow my business."

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Food Creator Molly Baz Launches Mayonnaise Brand

The debut of Ayoh comes as the creator expands her growing empire

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