Price evolution of Hellmann's mayonnaise in the United States

1. Relevance of the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise
2. Price evolution of Hellmann's mayonnaise
   1. Absolute price of Hellmann's mayonnaise per year
   2. Inflation adjusted price of Hellmann's mayonnaise per year
3. Conclusion
4. FAQs about Hellmann's mayonnaise's price in the the United States
5. Price evolution table and full chart

Hellmann's mayonnaise is one of those products that usually commes packaged in a container, such as a box, bottle or jar. Within the context of this article, the prices we share correspond to 32 ounces of Hellmann's mayonnaise, since that is a common size you'll find it in. If the sources we use provided prices in different sizes, we have worked that data to match our standard size and provide a consistent comparison.

Before moving on, it is also important to highight dat our data set of prices for Hellmann's mayonnaise has some gaps. From the 62 year period we will be looking at between 1961 and 2023 there are 36 years we do not have data for. These years are 1965, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. So please keep that in mind moving forward.

Price evolution of Hellmann's mayonnaise

The average price of 32 ounces of Hellmann's mayonnaise between 1961 and 2023 was $2.05, with the lowest price being $0.59 in 1961 and the highest $7.64 in 2021 (at least within the timeframe we have data for).

Absolute price of Hellmann's mayonnaise per year

Our data source for this article was: Morris County Library .

The absolute price of Hellmann's mayonnaise in the the United States has gone from $0.59 in 1961 to $7.64 in 2023. That's an absolute increase of $7.05, or 1194.92% in a period of 62 years. (go to the next section for inflation-adjusted values).

This increment has not been linear though. During this period of 62 years the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise actually decreased year over year 18 times, in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1994, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013.

The biggest absolute price decrease in the price of 32 ounces of Hellmann's mayonnaise was in 2013, when the price dropped by $-3.99, or -100%. The biggest price increase was $0.96, or 62.34% in 2006.

With the price increasing most years, it comes as no surprise that the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise today is higher than what it used to be some years ago.

Inflation-adjusted price of Hellmann's mayonnaise per year

As accurate as the information above might be, it can also be somehow deceiving. This is because the value of money changes over time, usually decreasing. That means that $1 of today's money cannot buy as much as $1 in the past. This phenomenon is called inflation, and can make it complicated to compare historical pricing data. Luckily, we can adjust for it and calculate what a dollar value of the past would be equal to in today's money.

So let's not take a look at the evolution of the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise in the the United States, in that same 62 years period between 1961 and 2023, but adjusting prices to inflation (aka. in today's money).

When we adjust for inflation, we see that the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise also peaked in 2021, when it cost $9.09 (in today's money), and was at its lowest in 1993 when it sold for $2.17.

The biggest drop in adjusted price happened in 1975, when the inflation-adjusted price dropped by $-6.17 (-100%). The biggest spike in adjusted price was in 1971 when it jumped by $1.89 (57.8%).

The average price of Hellmann's mayonnaise during this period of time, adjusting for inflation, has been $4.98, and the most current price of $7.64 is 53.41% above that average.

Conclusion

The absolute price of Hellmann's mayonnaise has increased by $3.65 ($91.48%) in the last decade, and $7.05 (1194.92%) since 1961. But that comes as no surprise, as prices always tend to increase over time due to inflation.

Now, as we've explained earlier, the absolute price of a product does not necessarily represent its affordability fairly. For that we have to look at its inflation adjusted price, or in other words, the price evolution in today's money.

When we look at the inflation-adjusted price of Hellmann's mayonnaise, we see that it has varied ± 91.2% over this period of time, and is currently 53.3% more expensive than the average over these years .

Even when adjusting prices for inflation, Hellmann's mayonnaise prices are still higher in 2023 than they were in 1961. And not just a bit more expensive, we are talking about a significant increase no matter how you look at it!

So if there had to be one single take away from this article it would be this: The average person has to make a bigger economic effort to purchase Hellmann's mayonnaise today than in the past.

FAQs about the price of Hellmann's mayonnaise in the the United States