boo-hoo (Score 2)

Seems to fall under the category of overly-zealous competitive marketing. I didn't see enough to justify verbiage like "crush vegan startup". In fact, I kind of agree with their assessment that it's not "just mayonnaise", that it shouldn't be marketed as such.

I do think that gov't sponsored industry-support groups can be anti-competitive. But I'm not sure they differ materially from other subsidized industries.

This is less a smoking gun than business as usual. Doesn't mean it's not important. Just that this company isn't justified in crying foul very loudly.

I'm a little overly sensitive to the over-sensitivity of Silicon Valley startups. The competitive environment is competitive, perhaps unfair if gov't is involved. But the notion that the state should be impartial or non-interfering is naive in my opinion. The gov't should be considered a player of the competitive landscape rather than referee.

Doesn't mean gov't shouldn't be held accountable for whatever.