Originally Published: 20 MAR 24 10:00 ET
By John Towfighi, CNN
(CNN) — A classic American cookie is reimagining its ingredients.
Chips Ahoy! is debuting a new recipe for its original cookie as the brand revamps its taste with improved chocolate chips, the company said.
The original Chips Ahoy! cookie, known for its bright blue packaging, will look and feel the same, but with an updated taste that features chocolate chips with higher cocoa and Madagascar vanilla extract content. The recipe improvement aims to bolster a core brand in the sweets and snack aisles of American supermarkets.
“We didn’t undertake this renovation lightly since our brand has been around for over 60 years,” Sabrina Sierant, senior director at Chips Ahoy! told CNN in an email. “But we know consumers have more choices than ever and taste is king when it comes to sweet snacks, so we felt we owed it to our fans to make sure we are constantly pushing ourselves to up our game.”
The new and “MMMproved” recipe is the biggest innovation to the Chips Ahoy! original cookie in 10 years, the company claims. Cookies with the new recipe are available in select stores this week and nationwide beginning in April.
The “specially blended” chocolate chips will be used exclusively in the new cookies, giving the treat a “richer cookie flavor” and “creamy” chocolate taste, according to a Chips Ahoy! press release.
“There are other new products coming from Chips Ahoy! this year, but we wanted to make sure we also have the best tasting Original Cookie since it’s the largest flavor in our portfolio,” Sierant wrote in an email to CNN.
Chips Ahoy! cookies have more than 53% of market share for chocolate chip cookies in the US, according to Sierant. According to Euromonitor International, Chips Ahoy! is the leader in the global Cookies category and holds a more than 10% share of the global market.
Sierant said research and development for the new recipe took more than four years and the company considered 60 different potential recipes before settling on this one.
The new recipe highlights a “higher cacao” content than the original cookie recipe. This comes amid historic cocoa prices, as futures have skyrocketed since the start of 2024.
Yet Chips Ahoy! fans can rest assured; the new recipe won’t mean higher prices.
“While we are creating the MMMproved Chips Ahoy! cookies with better tasting ingredients, we have no plans to change our suggested retail price and pack sizes for the brand,” Sierant told CNN.
Revamping a classic brand
Chips Ahoy! is owned by Mondelez International, the giant that also owns Oreo, Cadbury and Sour Patch Kids, among other brands.
Nabisco has produced Chips Ahoy! cookies since the 1960s. Mondelez acquired Nabisco in 2000.
Sierant told CNN that since 2020, the Chips Ahoy! brand has focused on innovative marketing campaigns, including bringing back the company mascot, Chip.
For the new recipe’s debut, Chips Ahoy!’s mascot Chip is partnering with singer and actress Keke Palmer for a digital marketing campaign that includes a consumer sweepstakes: one lucky winner and three friends will win an all-expenses paid weekend stay at a “luxury beach house” in Malibu, California.
For consumers curious about the summer trip to Malibu, updates will be posted on the X, Instagram and Facebook pages for @ChipsAhoy. To enter the sweepstakes, consumers must follow the brand’s Instagram or Facebook and comment on the pinned post on either page.
“While the MMMProved cookie recipe was crafted to delight our existing fans and bring back lapsed consumers, the campaign is targeted towards Gen Z households where the brand already over-indexes,” Sierant said. “We know Gen Z loves IRL experiences.”
In 2022, Chips Ahoy! was ranked among the top 25 brands for Gen Z consumers by credit decision intelligence company Morning Consult.
A 2023 Morning Consult analysis found that Gen Z shoppers allocate more of their spending to food and beverages than other categories like apparel or electronics. The report also found that 44% of Gen Z shoppers tried a new packaged good in any given month, and Gen Z shoppers spent about 19% of their money on packaged goods in that same period.
Chips Ahoy!’s new cookie recipe coincides with a packaging redesign that emphasizes colorful background graffiti and a “modern look and feel” to better reflect the brand’s personality, according to Sierant.
The-CNN-Wire
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Chips Ahoy! cookies
Chips Ahoy!, a 60-year-old cookie brand, is unveiling a new recipe for its original chocolate chip cookie.
Chips Ahoy! via CNN Newsource
20 Mar 24
