Dive Brief:
- Hydrox, the sandwich cookie that debuted in 1908 -- four years before Oreos -- is back.
- Leaf Brand, which specializes in reviving discarded brands such as Astro Pops and Wacky Wafers, has purchased the brand name and recipe and plans to return the snacks to stores late this summer.
- Former owner Kellogg killed off the brand in 2002, but revived it briefly for the cookie's 100th birthday in 2008.
Dive Insight:
No doubt there's a market for Hydrox; the questions is just how substantial that market may be. Oreos seemed to win the sandwich-cookie war a long time ago. Although many baby boomers will remember Hydrox, and some of them will buy them, the cookies just don't pull much weight with Gen X or Gen Y consumers.
But there may be room for Hydrox. A walk down the cookie aisle of any supermarket shows that the sandwich cookie style is popular enough to support multiple Oreo offerings, multiple Newman's Own cookies, and store brands. Besides, as seen before, many food brands have return from the dead.