Oreo Is the Knockoff. The Original Cookie Is Back for Revenge.

This video is sponsored by Atlas VPN. Oreo is the best-selling

cookie

in the world. You probably know the tradition of twisting, licking or dipping the

cookie

, but few know the dark side of its history. That's because many of its secrets have been buried for over 100 years, starting with the fact that the cookie is an imitation with a questionable filling. Before we move on to the next part of the story, our team would like to quickly thank our sponsor, Atlas VPN. Developed by top cybersecurity specialists and IT engineers, Atlas VPN encrypts your personal data and hides your virtual location on any device.

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guarantee. The offer won't last long, so be sure to check it out at http://atlasv.pn/Hook or click the link in the description below. In the 19th century, two cousins ​​from Lancaster, England, both named Thomas Vicars, ran a small factory called T&T Vicars.

The factory designed and built machines to make a staple food that kept sailors and soldiers alive for centuries: ship biscuits. These simple cookies were made from flour, salt and water and were made to be rock hard and would last for years as sailors and soldiers needed them for long voyages. They had a mild flavor and could only be consumed soaked in water or any other liquid. While inconvenient, the lawsuit lasted for many years, until a series of events occurred. After steamboats were invented and the Civil War ended, there was less need for biscuits that could withstand long voyages.

At the same time, sugar became cheaper, creating demand for sweet cookies. When the vicars became aware of this new demand, they were cautious and thought it was only a matter of time until they closed the doors of their factories. All the machines they designed and built could only make ship biscuits. So they decided to change with the times and offer new machines that made sweet cookies. It turned out to be a risk worth taking. Sweet biscuits became more popular throughout England and even became a luxury product. The United States quickly caught on to the trend and began importing machines to make its own.

Many manufacturers subsequently took advantage of opportunities to venture into the growing industry, including two brothers from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania: Jacob and Joseph Loose. At just 16 years old, Jacob Loose dropped out of high school to work as a clerk in a textile store, earning five dollars a week. In just a few years, he had saved enough money to open his own store and, later, a second location. As the years passed, the business continued to prosper and Jacob felt confident enough to expand into other ventures. Eventually, Jacob discovered an opportunity in Kansas, Missouri: taking over a small family bakery that made cookies and candy.

He had a hunch that the baking industry would continue to grow and convinced his brother Joseph to be his business partner. At that time, Joseph also had his own textile store. Together, the Loose brothers emptied their savings, bought the bakery and named it Loose Brothers Manufacturing Company. In just a few years, the Loose brothers managed to turn the company into a multimillion-dollar business. It was undoubtedly a great achievement, but Jacob was not satisfied. Companies in other industries such as oil and steel were gaining more capital through a new practice called conglomeration, which involves merging several companies to operate as a single entity.

It was unheard of in the food industry, but Jacob believed it could work, as he would allow bakeries to purchase large quantities of wheat and contract directly with farmers. So he hired a lawyer named Adolphus Green to be his general counsel and convince other Midwest bakeries to form a conglomerate. Although Adolphus had no legal experience in the food sector, he managed to gather 35 bakeries under the name American Biscuit Company. They were so successful that bakeries in other regions formed their own conglomerates: the New York Biscuit Company and the United States Baking Company. Soon after, the rival conglomerates embarked on a bitter war.

Competition became so fierce that the price of cookies fell 40% industry-wide and brought the American Biscuit Company to the brink of collapse. Little by little, the fight to survive took its toll on Jacob. He became seriously ill and was forced to resign as president of the American Biscuit Company. Later, he traveled to Europe to recover, leaving José in charge. Joseph was fed up with the bitter war against the American Biscuit Company's rivals. So his first task was to find a way to make peace. He settled on a profitable but grandiose idea that would mirror his brother's footsteps in an unimaginable way: forming a conglomerate with the New York Biscuit Company and the United States Baking Company.

From his sick bed, Jacob received the news by letter. He hastened to write to Joseph, begging him to reconsider. Joseph ignored his pleas and, with Adolphus's help, managed to merge the company with his rivals. Together they formed the largest baking conglomerate in the United States: the National Biscuit Company, which later became Nabisco. Before Joseph could celebrate, he discovered that he had made a grave mistake. Adolphus had done more than prepare the paperwork: listing himself as president of Nabisco and the Loose brothers as mere members of the board of directors. Adolphus now had control of the largest baking company in the United States.

When Jacob received the news, he felt helpless. All he could do was strive to improve and then seek

revenge

. This is exclusive to Hook, don't forget to subscribe to our channel. A few years after the merger, Jacob's health finally improved. He reconciled with Joseph and together they formed a new company with a businessman named John Wiles. His new company was called Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company. By then, Adolphus had grown Nabisco with a groundbreaking invention: an inside-seal package, which consisted of a wax paper sleeve to hold cookies inside a cardboard container. Traditionally, cookies were placed and sold in barrels, making them susceptible to breaking or spoiling.

Now, Nabisco could sell cookies that stayed fresh and could be shipped nationwide, since the wax paper blocked air and removed moisture. Their first line of packaged cookies was called Uneeda. To compete with Adolphus, Joseph knew that he would have to come up with his own groundbreaking invention. He then decided to launch a product that Nabisco did not offer: a sweet cake, which is now known as a cookie. It was a delicacy that only the rich could afford, so Joseph focused on creating a recipe that would make his cookies delicious and affordable. After many failed attempts, Joseph decided to try his luck with a new trend that is sweeping the United States: chocolate.

He believed that if he added cocoa to his recipe, he would be closer to creating an innovative invention, which would differentiate it from most cookies that only consisted of sugar and butter. The idea led to developing a recipe that combined two novelties: using cocoa powder as an ingredient and sandwiching a vanilla filling between two cookies. Joseph made use of a new invention from T & T Vicars to make his biscuits more efficient and look more elegant. It was a machine that could simultaneously cut up to 80 cookies per minute while etching patterns into each one. The design José chose featured a laurel wreath and a genus of flowering plants, Oreodaphne.

Once Joseph perfected his recipe, he and Jacob began thinking of names that would appeal to Americans. At the time, Americans were concerned about food purity, as companies added fillers such as chalk and brick dust to their products to save ingredients and maximize profits. This practice became so common that Congress enacted a food purity law. With this widespread problem in mind, the Loose brothers thought of names that evoked purity. Water was the purest thing they could think of, so they combined its elements (hydrogen and oxygen) and created the name Hydrox. Coincidentally, companies in other industries used the same name for their products, especially food products.

There was a Hydrox ice cream, a Hydrox ginger beer, and a Hydrox root beer. But the Loose brothers' cookies were such a novelty that when they were launched, they stood out and people were hooked. As Hydrox's popularity grew, Nabisco's profits fell. Adolphus became fearful and even desperate. He set out to offer his own sensational cookie. The competing product sandwiched a vanilla filling between two cookies and featured a laurel wreath. In addition to mirroring Hydrox's recipe and design, Nabisco reportedly named the genus of flowering plants engraved on the cookie: Oreo. When Nabisco launched Oreo, Hydrox was one of the most popular cookies in America and was even nicknamed the "King of Cookies." Many Americans liked that Hydrox was one of the first products to become kosher certified.

In contrast, Oreo was not kosher and contained lard (pork fat) for years. Grocery stores had a hard time getting customers to try Oreo cookies. And one store was stuck with 700 cans even after putting them on sale. Adolphus refused to lose to the Loose brothers. He was convinced that he could topple them again with a brilliant advertising campaign. He then did market research and discovered that consumers had a habit of twisting an Oreo before eating it. They would try to guess which side the cream would be on, keep the cream intact on one side, or hold one side while someone else holds the other to see who ends up with the cream.

Sensing that this mere habit could become a fun tradition, Adolphus made it the center of his new campaign. Meanwhile, the Loose brothers were experiencing more success than ever. In addition to opening the largest baking factory in the world, the company became one of the largest of its kind in the United States, ranking second only to Nabisco. But like any journey to the top, there were many losses along the way. José died suddenly due to heart disease. And just a year later, Jacob passed away from an unknown cause, leaving his business partner, John, alone to fight Nabisco.

That same year, Nabisco's Oreo campaign launched and the cookie took off, taking a big chunk of Loose-Wiles' profits. And over the next few decades, Loose-Wiles continued to fall apart. Like his partners, John passed away suddenly from an unknown cause. Loose-Wiles vice president Hanford Main was promoted to president. Under his leadership, the company was renamed Sunshine Biscuits and focused on promoting Hydrox as the

original

. Meanwhile, Nabisco focused on promoting the taste and quality of Oreo and raised its price. Many began to believe that Hydrox was not just a copycat but a cheap version of Oreo. Sunshine Biscuits subsequently fell apart within Corporate America.

It was sold to American Tobacco Company, resold to Granny Goose Foods, and then resold again to Keebler Foods. Keebler attempted to revive Hydrox by changing the recipe and renaming it Droxies, but his efforts failed. Kellogg's later acquired Keebler and discontinued Droxies without notice. Many Americans were devastated by the news and pledged allegiance to Hydrox. This is a dark moment in cookie history. For those of you who say, "Get over it, it's just a cookie," you haven't lived until you've tried a Hydrox. Hydrox users tend to beindependent thinkers, favor the underdog, and be skeptical of corporate marketing.

Even without Hydrox, they won't switch sides. Meanwhile, Nabisco continued to grow and became one of the largest baking companies in the world. Unbeknownst to them, a stranger would step in to carry on Loose-Wiles' legacy. One day I was driving the car with my dad and I turned to him and said, "I'll bring Hydrox back." It was like my mission, you know? I bring that cookie that we always had, that you always used to buy, you know, when I was a kid. "I'll bring him back." In the early 2000s, a tech recruiter named Ellia Kassoff headed to her local Smart & Final in Southern California, desperately hoping she wouldn't have to return home empty-handed for the umpteenth time.

It was the only place she could buy one. box filled with one of her favorite childhood treats, Astro Pops: a streamlined-shaped lollipop created by two rocket scientists in the '60s, possibly the most iconic lollipop in the world due to its unique shape. For several months, they found nowhere to go. can be found at Smart & Final and this day was no different when Ellia asked the staff about them, her response took him by surprise: most people would have let it slide, but Ellia disagreed. Most of her aunt, Doris Kassoff, married Ed Leaf, after meeting at a USO dance after World War II.

Ed's father and uncles founded Leaf Brands nearly 100 years ago, which made Jolly Ranchers, Whoppers, Milk Duds and other iconic products. When Ellia was a child, she visited her family in New York every summer and she always received samples of candy from my Uncle Ed. Ellia kept them or sold them at school during recess. For him, sweets were more than just a gift. It was part of her family legacy. So she couldn't let my favorite lollipops, you know, die. So I called a company called Spangler, who made Astro Pops at the time. And I just said, "Where are they?" And they said, "Yeah, we decided it wasn't part of our marketing mix, so we just discontinued it." So it just came out of my mouth and I said, “Would you sell the rights?” Because I couldn't just let someone else take the reins or just let the product die out.

My job was to take it, preserve it and rebuild it. So they said, "Sure, we'll sell it to you. We won't do anything with the rights and we won't do anything else." At the time, Ellia was at the top of her field and had just closed the largest cash deal in recruiting history. She planned to bring back Astro Pops as a simple hobby and then refocus on recruiting. It was a lot of fun bringing Astro Pops back. You know, the day I bought the rights, I couldn't sleep because I thought, "Oh my God, I have my favorite candy in the world." And it's all mine.

How could that be? You know, how could that...? That's impossible. And the moment I said to myself, once I started having so much fun, I started saying, "I wonder what other products are on the market that are no longer made that I liked when I was child and that are no longer manufactured. Ellia decided to relaunch Astro Pops and more of her favorite children's products under the name Leaf Brands. So he immediately acquired the brand, as The Hershey Company bought its American division in the '90s. After acquiring the Leaf Brands brand and managing to relaunch some products, Ellia set out to bring Hydrox back.

Like the others, he discovered that it was discontinued due to poor management decisions, such as changing the recipe or name. And that there were many people like him who longed for the return of Hydrox. There was only one problem: Kellogg's still owned the Hydrox brand and supposedly sold crushed chunks that were mixed into other products, like ice cream. And since this was a billion-dollar company, Ellia would surely have a hard time discovering it and acquiring the rights. He couldn't just call the CEO like he did with Astro Pops. So he decided to write a letter to Kellogg's, asking if they sold Hydrox in crushed pieces or whole cookies and, if so, where he could find them.

Surprisingly, he received a letter from Kellogg's informing him that they had discontinued Hydrox. Kellogg's mere response was proof that Ellia needed to fight for the Hydrox brand. Because under federal law, anyone can buy a trademark if they have proof that a company has no plans to use it. Ellia immediately applied for Hydrox and obtained the rights a year later. Now that Ellia had the Hydrox brand, he had to solve another problem: recreate the

original

recipe. Ellia started by searching for an old, unopened package to discover the ingredients and managed to find one from 1998 on Craigslist for $7.

He subsequently enlisted the help of Sunshine Biscuit's former CEO and head of product development, food scientists, and Hydrox fans to recreate the recipe. Fortunately, their joint efforts were a success and Ellia was able to relaunch Hydrox a year later. In a strange twist of fate, Nabisco, now renamed Mondelēz, began to unravel starting that year. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump announced that he was boycotting Oreo after discovering that Mondelēz laid off half of its American workers to move production to Mexico. No more Oreo cookies. They make Oreo cookies, right? No more Oreos, I don't like Oreos anymore.

And later, the media revealed that when Mondelēz made Oreos kosher, they replaced the lard with hydrogenated oil (which is even worse for the heart) and didn't use a healthier alternative until almost a decade later. Meanwhile, Leaf Brands manufactured Hydrox without hydrogenated oil or other low-quality ingredients. The media also revealed that the FDA allegedly banned Mondelēz from using the term "cream" to market Oreo cookies, as it did not contain the product at all. Mondelēz clearly had its hands full. Still, new accusations claim that didn't stop them from trying to get their hands on the one product that kept them at bay for decades: Hydrox.

When Ellia relaunched Hydrox, thousands of supermarkets were stocked and sales soared to around half a million dollars. The figures showed that Hydrox still had a loyal following and convinced major retailers to carry the brand. But once again, there was another problem standing in Ellia's way. One I had no idea about until one of the most powerful companies in the world intervened. Actually, it was a Walmart buyer, we're sitting in his office. And she said, "Look, I'm going to bring Hydrox back and put it in Walmart. But I have to warn you, you're going to run into a major problem.

And you need to figure out how to deal with that problem." .” And I look at her and I get excited, we're walking into Walmart, you know? And I say, "Problem? What problem?" She says, "Well, the Mondelēz people come to our stores a couple of times a week to restock. They'll hide your product any chance they get. They'll hide it at the back of the shelf, at the back of the store, anywhere they can to make sure you fail because you're their closest threat." Ellia was surprised but not surprised. Mondelēz is a category captain for a number of retailers: a supplier that helps determine where products should be placed on store shelves.

Additionally, they have a direct in-store distribution system, delivering and replenishing their own products several times a week instead of using a third-party distributor. Not long after Ellia received the warning, several retail buyers and customers reported noticing that Hydrox appeared to be hidden in stores. They allegedly placed it on top of a shelf, turned it on its side so the label couldn't be seen, or locked it. by other products and labels, forcing Ellia to file a complaint with the FTC and seek damages in court. When she shared the news on Facebook, many people reached out to share their own experiences.

Our local Ralph's Kroger's sold Hydrox cookies for over a year. . We buy every week. The ladies said they were flying off the rack. Suddenly... He left. An employee told me that the Oreo people threatened to reduce their deliveries if they didn't remove Hydrox...this is NOT what American competition is about. This is predatory. I had to threaten to kick Nabisco out of some stores I operated in the 60s and 70s because of their aggressive behavior in stealing shelf space and damaging competitors' products. I had to separate a Nabisco and Sunshine employee who was stuck in the middle of the cookie aisle due to Nabisco encroaching on Sunshine shelf space.

This is not a new practice for Nabisco. This has been going on for a long time. I can personally attest that Mondelez DOES do this. I was a Retail Restart Merchandiser for SAS Retail Services, one of Walmart's five approved vendors. In my territory of 5 Walmart stores, I regularly saw Mondelez Merchandisers and that company makes them do some shady things. I personally work for Nabisco and have NEVER been told to move/hide cookies... This is an issue with the retailer and not Mondelez. While Mondelēz denied the allegations, Ellia remains committed to seeking justice for Hydrox, which is now sold on Amazon.

And although he discovered that Oreo is now marketed as "The Original", he is not in the least discouraged from continuing to produce Hydrox. In an interview, Ellia revealed how she managed to persevere and what advice she would give to other entrepreneurs. It may sound cheesy, but find things that you really like to do, you know, what's your passion? Because that's where you're going to put most of your energy. They are not things that you are not really passionate about. When you add that passion to your, whatever you do, you're doing it 100 or 110%. You're not going to worry about the little barriers or the little walls that people put up because, you know, you believe in what you're doing.

So that's the key. Find something that you really like, not something that you can necessarily make a lot of money with because that will come later, you know? If you're that committed and you really put that passion into it, it's going to become, you know, your success. This is the story of an American invention that created the world's best-selling cookie and the people who fought corporate giants to keep it alive. For more inspiring stories and advice from today's most successful leaders, don't forget to subscribe to our channel!