Oreo has been the best-selling cookie in the United States by a huge margin, cultivating close to $700 million in sales for Nabisco in 2017. So what could be a possible threat? Non-GMO Cookies.
Oreo’s are far from healthy, as most product users know, and the fact that it contains GMO ingredients and further even tested positive for containing concerning amounts of the controversial Monsanto chemical glyphosate, does not help them make their case.
However, now, Oreo’s biggest rival has officially gone non-GMO, and it could help lead to the desperately required changes in the industry.
Oreo Rival Hydrox Pledges to Go Non-GMO
According to a recent press release posted to PRNewsWire.com, Oreo’s huge competitor Hydrox, known for its strikingly similar appearance and long serving history on American store shelves, has pledged to ditch traditional GMO ingredients for its new Non-GMO cookies, and will begin using new labels in order to celebrate the momentous occasion.
Hydrox was founded in 1908, and although it doesn’t make the top 10 list of best-selling cookies in the U.S., it is well received by people who have tried it before and noticed a very similar resemblance in the taste to the earlier mentioned best-selling Nabisco brand.
Although Oreo is by far the more popular choice, the Hydrox sandwich cookie actually pre-dates it: Oreo officially made its debut four years later in 1912.
Now the company is looking to shake up the industry by offering the Non-GMO cookies variant at a time when the sales of foods pertaining to this category and rising.
“Many of the largest ice cream manufacturers, bakeries and candy makers in the U.S. have approached us to replace their current cookie with our non-GMO cookies; being ‘clean label’, Hydrox, we see this as an immense opportunity as it is part of an emerging trend in the market,” said Garvey Daniels, VP of Sales for Leaf Brands, in a press release.
“While Mondelez is focused on lowering costs with Oreo, our focus is on making a superior cookie and it’s paying off. We see this reflected in our growing requests for crushed Hydrox within the foodservice and Industrial segments. Next up in the pipeline are mini Hydrox cookies which we expect to hit stores in 2018,” Daniels continued.
Hydrox also took the #1 spot as the new sandwich cookie on Amazon.com in December right after launching the latest variant, showing the power of going clean and ditching Monsanto ingredients (although the long term goal would definitely be to transition to an all organic nature).
“The new Hydrox® cookie is exactly the way customers remember it, circa 1908 to 1999, with its dark chocolate flavor, crispier cookie crunch, and less sweet character that made Hydrox famous,” the company’s press release states. “Hydrox is made with REAL cane sugar and without any hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors or colors.”
Whether or not the new Non-GMO cookies distinction can put a dent in Oreo’s massive market share remains to be seen, although the Nabisco giant will turn their heads if sales continue in their upward trend.
According to Quality Assurance & Food Safety‘s website, sales of Hydrox rose by 40% in 2017
Unhealthy Chocolate Cookies with Cream Filling
After its cookies tested positive for glyphosate, Oreo has been struggling from negative press. The cookies have a level of 289.47 ppb according to one measurement. Just .1 ppb is capable of causing harm to human health.
The switch to non-GMO is fairly rare in the packaged food industry and could help lead to changes if the company remains successful however Hydrox may also contain glyphosate residues as it is not organic.
Source: https://www.march-against-monsanto.com/sales-of-oreo-cookies-biggest-competitor-skyrocket-as-company-officially-goes-non-gmo/
Author: Nick Meyer
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