Mondelēz brings $1B Chips Ahoy! brand into gluten-free category

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Dive Brief:

• Mondelēz International is launching its first gluten-free Chips Ahoy! cookie this month.
• The snacking giant said it created more than 40 recipes over 3,000 hours before landing on the final version reaching store shelves.
• The $1 billion-plus cookie brand has been rapidly growing for Mondelēz due to its popularity among younger consumers and increased snacking among the broader population. However, Mondelēz said recently that Chips Ahoy!, which has higher penetration among lower-income households, is ceding market share to private-label offerings as consumers watch their spending.

Dive Insight:

The new gluten-free cookie comes just over a month after Mondelēz updated the recipe for Chips Ahoy! to give it a higher cacao content and concentration of Madagascar vanilla extract. Sales for the 61-year-old brand were increasing “double digits” annually, a company executive told Food Dive in 2023, with teens responsible for the biggest share of that growth. 

But with an estimated 25% of Americans following a gluten-free diet, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Mondelēz needs to bring its bringing Chips Ahoy! to a customer base that avoided the cookie because of dietary restrictions. “Our innovation team has succeeded – the new Chips Ahoy! Gluten Free cookie is an absolutely delicious cookie that everyone can enjoy,” Jainette Quinones, brand manager for Chips Ahoy! innovation, said in a statement.

The Chips Ahoy! launch follows the company’s entry into the gluten-free cookie category in 2021 with Oreo Gluten Free Chocolate Sandwich cookies. The Oreo gluten-free line now includes three flavors. By 2032, the gluten-free foods market is forecast at $14 billion, more than double the 2022 market value, Statista estimated. With the segment expected to continue its upward trajectory, it’s no surprise why companies like Mondelēz are bringing more of their signature products into the gluten-free realm.