Duke's Mayonnaise

Early history

In August 1917, Eugenia Duke and her daughter Martha began selling sandwiches at YMCA-run Army canteens to help make money for her family. Due to requests from soldiers at nearby Camp Sevier which was a National Guard training camp and other customers (she had quickly expanded the places to which she sold her sandwiches), she started bottling her mayonnaise around 1923. In November 1928, she was a speaker in Boston at the Mayonnaise Manufacturer's Convention. Unable to keep up with demand, she sold it to the C. F. Sauer Company in 1929.

With C. F. Sauer

In 1929, the C.F. Sauer Company in Richmond, Virginia, purchased Duke's products and Duke's Mayonnaise became the company's flagship product. The plant is located in Mauldin, South Carolina which is southeast of Greenville. The facility was featured in a How It's Made episode about mayonnaise in 2011.

In 2017, the South Carolina legislature recognized the centennial of Duke's. Duke's Mayonnaise was available throughout the United States, as well as in New Zealand, Australia and the Middle East. In 2017, Sauer announced that it was also starting sales to Latin America.

In 2019, Falfurrias Capital Partners acquired C.F. Sauer and the Duke's brand. Falfurrias sold Sauer Brands including Duke's to Advent International in 2025. {{Cite web|last=Hanacek|first=Andy|date=January 7, 2025|title=Duke’s Mayo Parent, Sauer Brands, To Be Acquired by PE Firm Advent International

Eugenia Duke

Eugenia Thomas Slade Duke (October 1881 in Columbus, Georgia–1968) created Duke's Mayonnaise in 1917, in Greenville, South Carolina.

When Eugenia Duke was 18, she married Harry Cuthbert Duke in 1900 and moved to Greenville. She was active in working towards passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote.

After the sale of the company, Eugenia Duke followed Martha, her only child, to California and opened the Duchess Sandwich Company as well as the Duchess Catering Company.

References

References

1. [https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/06/26/peace-center-plans-enclose-wyche-pavilion-greenville-sc-reedy-river/1561995001/ Peace Center returns with plans to enclose the Wyche Pavilion along the Reedy River]. GreenvilleOnline. Retrieved 2019 June 30.
2. (3 July 2014). "3 great make-it-yourself mayonnaise recipes: Cooking Creole".
3. McElveen, Katie. (2005). "Made in South Carolina". South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
4. Orchant, Rebecca. (September 30, 2013). "Dukes Mayo Is The South's Favorite and Maybe the Best". Huffington Post.
5. (November 5, 2013). "Duke's Mayonnaise: The Southern spread with a cult following". Washington Post.
6. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/dukes-mayonnaise-the-southern-spread-with-a-cult-following/2013/11/04/90f508a2-40e5-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html "Duke's Mayonnaise: The Southern Spread with a Cult Following"],''The Washington Post'', November 5, 2013.
7. (14 April 2015). "There's No Mayonnaise Like My Mayonnaise".
8. "Duke's Mayo: An Obsession".
9. Lucas, Jill Warren. (April 15, 2014). "Emily Wallace on the life and legacy of Eugenia Duke, creator of Duke's Mayonnaise".
10. "What Makes Duke’s Mayo a Cult Favorite? {{!}} America's Test Kitchen".
11. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/92002857/ MAYONNAISE MANUFACTURERS END CONVENTION HERE] The Boston Globe, Thu, Nov 1, 1928, Page 11
12. Zullo, Robert. (25 December 2017). "100 years of Duke's Mayonnaise: the South's favorite spread celebrates a century".
13. "2017-2018 Bill 4147 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 19, 2017) - South Carolina Legislature Online".
14. Gilligan, Gregory. (August 2, 2019). "N.C.-based private equity firm completes acquisition of C.F. Sauer's food business".
15. Orchant, Rebecca. (September 30, 2013). "Dukes Mayo Is The South's Favorite and Maybe the Best". Huffington Post.
16. (June 7, 2018). "Worth The Whisk: How The Woman Behind Duke's Mayo Became A Tycoon". NPR.
17. (December 25, 2017). "100 years of Duke's Mayonnaise: the South's favorite spread celebrates a century". Richmond Times-Dispatch.