The Original Sandwich Cookie Was Not The Oreo

While Oreo cookies are far and beyond the more popular household name, Hydrox cookies, introduced to the market in 1908 by the Sunshine Biscuits Company, was actually the original sandwich cookie.

So what happened? How did Oreos go from copycat cookie status to the #1 cookie sold in the world? And what made Hydrox cookies linger as second fiddle for so long on the grocery shelves?

Back in 1908, Hydrox cookies were fairly popular. They were an innovative, tasty snack, albeit the name left something to be desired (there was an existing Hydrox Chemical Company on the market at the time, leaving customers with lingering concerns over the connection between the two brands). Questionable name aside, Sunshine Biscuits was pretty proud of the initial success of their Hydrox cookie sandwiches.

Four years later, Nabisco’s Oreo was invented and unleashed into the open market. Oreo’s rose all the way to the top, but for many years Hydrox cookies had something Oreo’s did not– a kosher certification.

For 85 years, Oreo’s remained untouchable for kosher consumers because Nabisco’s recipe included lard in the cream. It took Nabisco several decades to get on the kosher (and vegan) bandwagon, reformulating their recipe to remove the lard. For over eight decades, Hydrox cookies were able to hold their own in the market, thanks in part to their kosher consumers.

In 1998, it appeared the final nail in the coffin was knocked in for the original sandwich cookie. Kosher consumers could finally taste the forbidden fruit–eh, cookie, when Oreo’s acquired a kosher certification. And without this last hold-out in the grocery store, Hydrox cookies were soon to be pulled off the shelves by Keebler, the company that took over Sunshine Biscuits in the 1990s. It’s reported that Hydrox sold 96 percent fewer cookies in 1998 than the mega-successful Oreo did that same year.

The time had almost come to shutter the ill-named sandwich cookie that started it all. Keebler tried a feeble attempt to re-launch Hydrox cookies back into the market with a slightly improved name “Droxies”. But the consumers weren’t biting.

In 2001, Hydrox-Droxies again transferred hands as Kellogg’s took over the Keebler company. And to the dismay of the few, but vocal die-hard fans of Hydrox cookies, Kellogg’s took the under-performing snack off the market entirely in 2003.

In 2008 the cookies came back as a teaser to appease heart-sore consumers who missed their favorite sandwich cookie, but they quickly disappeared again. Kellogg’s had truly discarded the cookie at this point. But through the power of brand loyalty, Hydrox cookies had one more comeback left in them.

Ellia Kassoff grew up on the kosher sandwich cookie and wanted to bring Hydrox back. Kassoff learned that if someone isn’t using a trademark (and Kellogg had long abandoned the product it umbrella-ed into its corporation), it’s up for grabs. In 2015, Hydrox was relaunched under Kassoff’s company, Leaf Brands.

And while Leaf Brands succeeded in bringing Hydrox back to the grocery shelves, the cookie drama did not end there. Leaf Brands is known for its shade throwing tactic, stating on its website that Hydrox is back, so “don’t eat a knock off”. They also take on Oreo’s success head-on by competing with “cleaner” ingredients.

In 2018, Hydrox threw its last, crumbling punch, as Leaf Brands filed an $800 million lawsuit against Mondelez, the company that now owns Oreo cookies. Leaf Brands complained that Mondelez International was using their considerable advantage as a category captain to hide Hydrox Cookies on grocery shelves.

And while results of this lawsuit are blurred between the crumbs, Hydrox continues to hold on to shelf space and consumer carts. As Jews, the Hydrox underdog persevering despite the odds feels like a comforting, relatable narrative.

Here we are, the Hydrox on the shelves of history, but despite being shoved around by the big-dog cookies in every market, we know our own unique worth and purpose in this world as Jews. Leave it to us to find a cookie analogy to crunch on as we chew over our own existential existence.

No matter how the cookie crumbles, it’s fun to dunk our creamy sandwich cookie filled hands into the history of the Hydrox-Oreo rivalry. It’s truly a story of competition breeding excellence– with the consumers winning out in the end.