It’s the battle of the nog.

In reaction to a national egg shortage and price spike, Hood is making eggless Holiday Nog for the first time. But, traditional eggnog, made with eggs, will continue to be made — only for New Englanders — according to a spokeswoman.

Oakhurst, meanwhile, sent out a release Monday, touting eggs for all.

Maine milk goes into both.

“Hood is by no means trying to release imposter products,” said spokeswoman Lynne Bohan when told about the release, which suggested that “some brands” weren’t egging nog.

“We’ve stuck by a traditional recipe and there’s nothing wrong with calling that out,” Oakhurst President John Bennett said in an interview on Monday.

At Smiling Hill Farm, Warren Knight was, well, smiling.

“Oakhurst and Hood, when those giants fight, we just hope we don’t get stepped on,” said Knight, part of the family who owns the Westbrook dairy. “We’ve seen an increase in expense for eggs as everybody has across the marketplace, so we’ve had to adjust our price slightly on our eggnog. It doesn’t surprise me they’re trying to push the envelope with eggs in order to still get the eggnog market. It’s sort of humorous in a way.”

Prices started to climb this summer after millions of chickens died and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the avian flu had been reported in 21 states.

The egg shortage was projected to last through the holiday season, Bohan said, so Hood developed its new egg-free Holiday Nog.

“They taste exactly the same,” she said. “They just either have egg or they don’t. Quite frankly, some consumers prefer it not to have eggs because they have egg allergies.”

Hood’s traditional Egg Nog — processed in Portland — is, by sales volume, the No. 1-selling eggnog in New England, according to the company.

Jim Lesser, vice president of sales and marketing for Oakhurst, said Oakhurst sells between 400,000 and 450,000 pints, quarters and half-gallons of eggnog from mid-October to New Year’s Day throughout northern New England. It donates 5 cents from every sale to the Salvation Army, a figure that exceeds $260,000 over 16 years.

“We drink a lot of nog in this neck of the woods,” he said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

This story was corrected at 9:27 a.m. to reflect the right donation amount.