Please welcome Ayoh Foods, Molly Baz’s next-level, saucy mayo brand
Meet Ayoh Foods, the latest addition to Lerer Hippeau’s portfolio.
HQ: Los Angeles, CA
Founders: Molly Baz and David McCormick
The problem: Since the pandemic, many of us are spending more time at home. But we’re still pressed for time, which often means we’re forced to opt for the most convenient solution for meals. We spend less time preparing them, and when we do, we’re compromising quality in the kitchen. Many of us will prioritize practicality — something we can make in a few minutes — over creativity and high quality ingredients. Sandwiches have always been a good way to make a simple and efficient meal, but we frequently lack the energy or inspiration to make something more than a ho-hum option. We need more solutions for elevating otherwise-straightforward meals, like sandwiches, and making them with the efficiency required for modern life.
Ayoh’s solution: Ayoh is on a mission to enhance the quality of every sandwich, with its series of next-level condiments. Ayoh packs its mayo base with flavorful ingredients like pickles, spices, herbs, and vinegar to create a one-stop sauce for sandwiches of any variety. The company has launched with four core flavors: Original Mayo, Dill Pickle Mayo, Tangy Dijonayo, and Hot Giardinayo. Each mayo is packaged in a 12-ounce squeezable bottle to make it as easy as possible to make sandwiches in your home kitchen and enable culinary experimentation of all kinds. Further, Ayoh’s mayo products are made with cage-free eggs and are non-GMO and gluten-free, and can be used for a variety of homemade dishes, including in dips, egg, chicken, and tuna salads, roast chickens, and grain bowls.
Origin story: Over the course of her career, Ayoh founder Molly Baz has developed dozens of sandwich recipes in and outside of her two New York Times best-selling cookbooks, Cook This Book and More is More. Molly is a proud sandwich expert and host of the podcast “Sandwich Universe,” which offers listeners deep-dive conversations around American sandwich culture. Through these conversations, she realized that what ultimately makes a sandwich special is the condiments, as well as the garnishes, spices, and herbs in the mix. She created Ayoh, together with CPG-industry veteran David McCormick, to simplify the process of making sandwiches and to enhance their quality. Ayoh is simply the latest and greatest feather in Molly’s food-empire cap.
Why we’re betting on it: Sandwiches are a core component of the American diet. Their ease and budget-friendliness make them a meal choice that is suitable for any time of day. An estimated 300 million Americans, or more than 86 percent of the country, eat sandwiches every day, and two out of three Americans (approximately 67 percent) claim they could survive on sandwiches alone for a week. Mayo — a $6 billion category in the U.S. — plays a critical role in sandwich-making, enhancing sandwich flavors and textures, and taking them from bland to delicious. Ayoh’s mayo-based sauces offer much-needed variety among grocery shelf options, and make it easier than ever to make flavorful sandwiches at home. But we’re most impressed by the team: David brings nearly twenty years of operational, marketing, and strategy experience within the consumer goods segment, including with startups like Magic Spoon and Fortune 500 companies like Whole Foods. And Molly’s significant and widely followed social media presence in the food world will serve as a turnkey for the brand as it works to reach consumers. Molly has close to 1 million enthusiastic followers and subscribers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and her personal content, which regularly goes viral, will offer a range of creative and organic marketing channels for Ayoh’s products.
Our take: For nearly 15 years, we have invested in the best consumer businesses, including several high-quality food and beverage companies — equally expert in brand prowess and product quality and stickiness. Ayoh falls squarely within this scope, and has developed a line of mayo-based sauces bringing gourmet experiences home for consumers. Molly is bringing her culinary knowledge to bear in a natural product line extension of her incredibly impressive brand. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Molly, David, and the Ayoh team as they capitalize on demand for high quality ingredients, end boring sandwiches, and launch their sauces in home kitchens and grocery stores around the country.
Further reading: “Molly Baz is going all-in on mayo with her new brand Ayoh” via Fast Company
Check out Ayoh Foods on LinkedIn, and Molly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube