Blue Plate Mayonnaise is a brand of

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

owned by Reily Foods Company, headquartered in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Blue Plate was created by the Wesson Oil & Snowdrift Company in 1929 and founded by Charles A. Nehlig, chief operating officer of subsidiary company Gulf and Valley Cotton Oil Company. One of the first commercially prepared mayonnaise brands in the United States, it was produced in

Gretna, Louisiana Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. "Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2007, webpage: C-Gretna "Census ...

, until 1941 when production was moved to the Blue Plate Building in

Gert Town, New Orleans Gert Town is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home to Xavier University of Louisiana and is near Mid-City. Gert Town played a major role in the industrial development of the New Orleans region. The Blue Plate Mayon ...

. Reily Foods purchased Blue Plate in 1974 and continued to use the same factory until production was moved in 2000 to the Reily Foods factory in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. The Blue Plate Building has since been converted into the Blue Plate Artist Lofts and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

Blue Plate mayo was invented during the 1929 streetcar strike, during which the

po' boy A po' boy (also po-boy, po boy derived from the non-rhotic Rhoticity_in_English#United_States_2, southern accents often heard in the region, or poor boy) is a sandwich originally from Louisiana. It traditionally consists of a filling, which is u ...

was also invented. Internally, Blue Plate and its advertising agency, Tilt, unofficially refer their mayo as "the official mayonnaise of the po' boy."

Reception

In 2018,

Epicurious ''Epicurious'' is an American digital brand that focuses on food- and cooking-related topics. Created by Condé Nast in 1995, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, where it is part of the publisher's Fo ...

listed Blue Plate as "the best mayonnaise you can buy in a grocery store." Blue Plate Mayo tied for runner-up with

Kewpie Kewpie is a brand of dolls and figurines that were conceived as comic strip characters by American cartoonist Rose O'Neill. The illustrated cartoons, appearing as baby cupid characters, began to gain popularity after the publication of O'Neil ...

in ''

Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama Alabama ...

'' "The Best Mayonnaise" 2024 survey, with Duke's Mayo winning.

References

{{portal bar, Food Food manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New Orleans Condiment companies of the United States Mayonnaise 1929 establishments in Louisiana American companies established in 1929

History

Reception

See also

References