The Food That Built America Recap for Clash of the Cookie Giants

 

This week’s episode of The Food That Built America on The History Channel is titled Clash of the Cookie Giants, where we will learn about the history of one of the most famous snacks in the world.

 

Before they became what we know and love today, Jacob and Joseph Loose, the owners of Sunshine Biscuits, wanted to take on Nabisco, namely Adolphus Green in a cracker showdown.

 

They work on several recipes for cookies that they want to be affordable and delicious. It is touch and go for a while, but once they decide to put vanilla cream between two chocolate cookies, the sandwich cookie is invented….known to the world as Hydrox.

 

The cookie goes national as the first prepackaged cookie and it is a huge hit.

 

Needless to say, Adolphus is not a happy bunny.  He decides to make his own version of the cookie, inventing what we now know as Oreos…..thanks to a collaboration with Hershey.

 

Now Oreo is the number one cookie in America.

 

Not to be outdone, Ruth and Ken Wakefield are running a restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. They were famous for her desserts, but she wanted to take them next level.  She invents what we now know as the chocolate chip cookie as a special treat for their guests.

 

The cookies were such a hit that people were asking for the recipe. She began giving them out and they soon ended up in the Boston Globe, not only making the cookie popular, but also the Nestle chocolate used in the recipe.

 

Nestle soon got wind of this and asked to buy and put the recipe on their chocolate, soon inventing the chocolate morsels, or the chocolate chip. This put Nestle on the map and makes chocolate chip cookies the national favorite.

 

Lee Bickmore, the new Nabisco CEO, wants in on the action and decides to invent his own prepackaged chocolate chip cookie. Enter the Chips Ahoy! invention!

 

The cookie is a huge hit, especially since prepackaged food was now popular.

 

However, prepackaged food would soon be considered the enemy. PR superstar agent Wally Amos is struggling, so he decides to bake as a way to self soothe. This becomes a way for him to pivot his career and invent the Famous Amos cookies.

 

These cookies are also a hit, and Wally decides to take them to the next level by opening up a chocolate chip cookie shop. Despite selling the cookies, the business side was struggling, and he had to reinvent the wheel.

 

Meanwhile, in California, Debbi Fields his trying to impress her husband’s colleagues and friends with her cookies. Despite some roadblocks, Mrs. Fields cookies would take on the treat world by storm.

 

Debbi decides to start her cookie business in a shopping mall food court. It is quiet at first, but she decides to give out free samples, which helps bring in business and expand it throughout the country.

While this is good for her, the competition gets in on the game, causing her to have to step up her game.  Her husband helps her come up with a new business system, which helps the business become worth millions worldwide.  Franchising also helped her grow, and she sells it to an investment firm in the 1990s. She is worth millions and still on the board for the business.

 

Wally works with Keith Lively, who helps him make a store-bought version of the cookies. However, Wally doesn’t like this idea and sells the business to Keith, who then collaborates with Keebler, allowing Famous Amos to become a hit once again.

 

In 1999, Wally is brought back in as a spokesperson for the cookie….but he is not interested since they aren’t using his cookie. However, they go back to the roots of the cookie and make a deal.

 

Famous Amos would go on to be brought by the Ferrero Group and is now worth billions.