School lunches and nighttime snacks are going to taste different for millions of cookie fans.
Chips Ahoy! is revamping its recipe, in a move the company says will improve the taste of its chocolate chips. The new cookie styles will roll out to store shelves this month.
The new chips have a higher level of cocoa as well as more Madagascar vanilla extract. Mondelēz International, which owns Nabisco, the maker of Chips Ahoy!, says this reduces bitterness and gives the cookies a “well-rounded chocolate flavor.” The brand has also altered its mixing process to adjust the cookie’s texture.
It’s the biggest adjustment to the Chips Ahoy! brand in over a decade—and it comes as competition heats up from not only other packaged cookie brands, but grocery store bakeries and a growing number of independent bakers across the country.
Still, when it comes to chocolate chip competitors, Chips Ahoy! is the sales winner by a large margin. Sabrina Sierant, senior director of Chips Ahoy!, says the brand has a 53% market share. However, she added in a statement “in a category where taste is king and many chocolate chip cookies look the same, we wanted to challenge ourselves to step up our quality while staying true to what our fans already love”.
Coming up with the improved version (which the company insists on calling MMMproved, as you’ll eventually see on the packaging) was a slow process. Sierant says Chips Ahoy! tested over 60 recipes and spent more than 5,000 hours in the kitchen coming up with the right mix.
While the recipe is changing, there are no reported plans for Chips Ahoy! to raise prices. And the packaging for the new brands does not reflect any shrinkflation, something that’s bound to keep up-and-coming economist Cookie Monster happy.