Vegan Mayonnaise Contract Manufacturing: Shelf-Stable Glass Jars
Buyer’s snapshot
- The US FDA standard of identity for mayonnaise (21 CFR 169.140) requires an egg yolk ingredient and at least 65% vegetable oil, so an egg-free product cannot be sold as “mayonnaise” in the United States.
- The global vegan mayonnaise market was about USD 1.08 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 2.02 billion by 2032 (Persistence Market Research, 2025).
- Shelf-stable vegan mayo is an acidified food: an equilibrium pH at or below 4.6 lets a glass jar sit on an ambient retail shelf without a cold chain.
- Silk Foods Ceylon (SFC), the Matale manufacturing arm of Silk Route Ventures (SRV), fills semi-liquid glass jars at 3,000 jars per day with a 1,500-jar first-run MOQ, under BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6.
- For US and EU brands scaling an egg-free spread, this post is the spec. For a chilled commodity SKU at the lowest shelf price, a domestic co-packer is the more honest answer.
Most contract manufacturers quote vegan mayonnaise as a chilled, refrigerated SKU. A smaller number quote it shelf-stable in a glass jar, ambient on the shelf for a year or more. Fewer still can hold an egg-free emulsion at an equilibrium pH at or below 4.6 while keeping the texture spoonable and the front-of-pack name compliant in the destination market. This piece is the spec for a CPG scale-up evaluating egg-free spread co-manufacturing: the naming rule that trips up first-time US entrants, the formulation that makes the jar shelf-stable, and the MOQ math at the Matale facility.
Why can’t vegan mayonnaise be called “mayonnaise” in the United States?
Under the US FDA standard of identity (21 CFR 169.140), mayonnaise must contain an egg yolk ingredient and at least 65% vegetable oil. An egg-free product does not meet that definition. In the United States it is sold as a vegan spread, a dressing, or “vegan mayo,” not as “mayonnaise.” The recipe is legal; the single word on the front of pack is the constraint.
This is a label-risk question, not a marketing footnote. The FDA has also flagged egg-yolk-color additives such as beta-carotene, and ingredients outside the standard including modified starch and pea protein, as further reasons an egg-free product falls outside the mayonnaise definition. A buyer who specifies “mayonnaise” on a US retail SKU inherits that exposure at the listing review, not at the factory.
In August 2015, the FDA sent Hampton Creek a warning letter: its egg-free Just Mayo could not be called mayonnaise, because the spread carried no egg. By December that year the product kept the Just Mayo name after adding “spread and dressing” to the label and enlarging the “egg-free” line. For a procurement team, that sequence is the template. The formulation was never the problem. The label was.
In the EU and UK, “mayonnaise” follows a voluntary industry compositional recommendation rather than a single binding standard of identity, so egg-free products there usually carry “vegan mayo,” “sandwich spread,” or “dressing” on the front of pack as well. The practical rule for a global launch: lock the legal product name per market before the artwork, not after. The desk that handles food and beverage contract manufacturing scopes the name and the claim set alongside the formulation for exactly this reason.
What makes vegan mayonnaise shelf-stable in a glass jar?
Shelf-stable vegan mayonnaise is an acidified food. Under FDA 21 CFR Part 114, a product with water activity above 0.85 and an equilibrium pH at or below 4.6 is shelf-stable at ambient temperature. Reaching and holding that pH, then pasteurizing and sealing in glass, is what removes the cold chain from the supply line.
Acetic acid from vinegar and citric acid from lemon do the safety work. They pull the finished emulsion to a pH at or below 4.6, the threshold below which Clostridium botulinum will not grow. A mild pasteurization step and a hot fill into a hermetically sealed glass jar then lock the product for ambient distribution. The trade-off is sensory. More acid buys shelf stability and costs a little richness, so the formulation balances pH against mouthfeel rather than maximizing either.
Shelf-stable status has to be earned on paper as well as in the jar. A US-bound acidified product needs the facility registered as a Food Canning Establishment and a scheduled process filed through a process authority. The team at the Matale site files the scheduled process and runs a pH check on every batch, recorded on the Certificate of Analysis. That batch-level pH record is the document a US importer’s food-safety reviewer asks for first.
| Decision factor | Shelf-stable (ambient glass jar) | Chilled (refrigerated) |
|---|---|---|
| Safety control | Equilibrium pH at or below 4.6, pasteurized, hermetic seal | Refrigeration plus preservative system |
| Typical shelf life | 9 to 18 months ambient | 2 to 6 months at 4 C |
| Distribution | No cold chain, lower freight and retail cost | Cold chain end to end |
| Regulatory filing | Acidified-food scheduled process (21 CFR 114) | No acidified-food filing required |
| Best fit | Export, long lanes, ambient shelf placement | Domestic, short lanes, fresh positioning |
Source: SRV facility data, FDA 21 CFR 114.
Building the egg-free emulsion: oil, acid, and the plant emulsifier
Egg yolk does two jobs in mayonnaise: it emulsifies oil into water and it builds texture. In vegan mayo, aquafaba (chickpea cooking water, 5 to 8% dry matter), pea or soy protein, and a hydrocolloid such as xanthan gum take over. Peer-reviewed work shows a stable emulsion needs oil droplets below about 4 microns (Raikos and colleagues, 2020). Below that droplet size the spread holds; above it, oil separates.
The lever that matters most in scale-up is droplet size, and droplet size is set by the emulsifier load and the shear of the mill. As plant-emulsifier content drops, droplets grow and the emulsion weakens, which is why a low-cost recipe often fails the drop test before it fails the taste panel. A small dose of xanthan gum raises viscosity and keeps the product spoonable rather than pourable, which also protects the emulsion in transit through a warm container.
Oil choice is a formulation and a positioning decision. Sunflower and rapeseed give a neutral base; a coconut-derived oil fraction gives a Sri-Lanka-anchored story and a firmer set, which suits a thick sandwich spread. Soy-free and allergen-conscious builds are routine, since soy protein is only one of several plant-protein routes. For brands that want the recipe developed rather than supplied, the in-house R&D and NPD team runs the emulsion trials, the pH targeting, and the scale-up plan in parallel with the production schedule, which is often where a low-MOQ co-pack earns its place.
What is the contract manufacturing MOQ for vegan mayo in glass jars?
Silk Foods Ceylon’s semi-liquid and sauce line fills 300 g glass jars at 3,000 jars per day, with a first-run contract manufacturing MOQ of 1,500 jars per SKU. Sample lead is 3 to 5 business days door to door by courier; production lead is 2 to 3 weeks from purchase order to dispatch; sea freight to the US runs 4 to 5 weeks, and to the EU and Australia 3 to 4 weeks.
On price, compare like for like. SFC quotes FOB Colombo, which a buyer most often sets against a domestic co-packer’s delivered price; the honest comparison is landed cost, not invoice line. Payment terms are consistent across the customer book: orders under USD 10,000 are 100% advance by bank transfer, and orders of USD 10,000 or above run 50% advance with the balance against scanned shipping documents. A 1,500-jar pilot lets a brand validate the emulsion, the pH record, and the artwork before committing to a container.
Spec snapshot: shelf-stable vegan mayo, glass jar
- Format: oil-in-water emulsion, egg-free, 300 g glass jar (other jar sizes on request)
- Safety target: equilibrium pH at or below 4.6, pasteurized, hermetic seal (acidified food, 21 CFR 114)
- Emulsifier routes: aquafaba, pea protein, or soy protein, plus xanthan gum; soy-free options available
- Oil base: sunflower, rapeseed, or coconut-derived fraction
- Line capacity: 3,000 jars per day; first-run MOQ 1,500 jars per SKU
- Lead time: sample 3 to 5 business days; PO to dispatch 2 to 3 weeks
- Certifications: BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6; USDA Organic and EU Organic per SKU
Why one site can run your vegan mayo alongside 400 other SKUs
The Silk Foods Ceylon facility sits 1 km from Nalanda Gedige in Matale, on a 10,000 sq ft cellular manufacturing floor that produces more than 400 product variants under one audit. The cellular layout is the structural reason a new glass-jar spread can join the schedule without a separate audit cycle, and it runs under BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6, the dual coverage US and EU retail buyers screen for.
That flexibility is what a scaling brand actually buys. One US plant-based spreads brand co-manufactured at the Matale facility moved from a 5,000-unit first run in 2021 to multi-container monthly orders by 2024. The reason it consolidated was not unit price. The same certification scope and acidified-food discipline carried its next two SKU launches without re-auditing the supplier each time, which is the kind of saving that never shows up on a per-jar quote.
The fit is not universal, and saying so is the point. A brand chasing the lowest possible shelf price on a chilled, domestic, commodity spread is better served by a co-packer inside its own market, where short freight lanes beat the Ceylon premium. SFC’s case is strongest where the spread is shelf-stable, export-bound, certification-gated, or formulation-led, which is where plant-based and functional food contract manufacturing in Sri Lanka competes on more than price. Buyers comparing glass-jar formats often read this next to vegan cheese spread retort manufacturing and the coconut cream 22% vs 24% fat glass-jar economics, while higher-volume buyers weigh it against plant-based patty co-manufacturing, since each is a shelf-life and format problem before it is a recipe.
Buyer’s checklist: qualifying a shelf-stable vegan mayo co-pack
- Confirm the legal product name and claim set for each destination market before artwork
- Ask for the equilibrium pH target and the batch pH record on the COA
- Confirm the acidified-food scheduled process is filed for US-bound product
- Specify the emulsifier route (aquafaba, pea, or soy) and any allergen constraints
- Confirm the oil base and the resulting set and mouthfeel against a sample
- Verify BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6 scope covers the glass-jar acidified line
- Run a sample against the spec, then a pilot run, before the first container
Frequently asked questions
Can a vegan mayonnaise be labeled “mayonnaise” in the United States?
No. The FDA standard of identity (21 CFR 169.140) requires an egg yolk ingredient and at least 65% vegetable oil, so an egg-free product cannot use “mayonnaise” in the US. It is sold as a vegan spread, a dressing, or “vegan mayo” instead. Confirm the legal name per market before artwork.
Does shelf-stable vegan mayo need refrigeration?
No, if it is formulated as an acidified food. Under FDA 21 CFR Part 114, a product with an equilibrium pH at or below 4.6, then pasteurized and sealed in glass, is shelf-stable at ambient temperature. That removes the cold chain and lowers freight and retail cost over long export lanes.
What is the contract manufacturing MOQ for vegan mayo in glass jars at Silk Foods Ceylon?
Silk Foods Ceylon fills 300 g glass jars on a semi-liquid line at 3,000 jars per day, with a first-run contract manufacturing MOQ of 1,500 jars per SKU. Sample lead is 3 to 5 business days; PO to dispatch is 2 to 3 weeks. The line runs under BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6.
Can SRV develop a custom soy-free, coconut-oil-based vegan mayo formulation?
Yes. The Silk Route Ventures R&D and NPD team develops egg-free emulsions in-house, including soy-free builds and coconut-derived oil bases, targeting an equilibrium pH at or below 4.6 for shelf stability. Formulation runs in parallel with the production plan, with a sample before any volume commitment.
How Silk Route Ventures can help
Silk Route Ventures (SRV) contract-manufactures finished CPG SKUs, including semi-liquid spreads and sauces in glass jars, at the Silk Foods Ceylon (SFC) facility in Matale. The semi-liquid line fills 300 g glass jars at 3,000 jars per day, with a 1,500-jar first-run MOQ, under BRCGS and FSSC 22000 V6 covering the acidified-food scope, with USDA Organic and EU Organic available per SKU. The cellular manufacturing layout means a new vegan mayo SKU joins the schedule without a separate audit cycle, and the SRV R&D and NPD team scopes the egg-free emulsion, the pH target, and the destination-market label in parallel with the production plan.