Oreos are one of the most popular and classic cookies for a reason. For decades they have managed to keep the original flavor that made them so popular and add to their lineup fun and interesting new flavors that keep customers coming back for more. Plus, as a great aside, most of them are fully vegan! which makes them available for an even wider audience than most other cookies in the market.
Having said that, despite their popularity, the team behind Oreo does not just sit quietly at home while they rake in the cash, the company is constantly evolving an trying out new flavors to enthrall the masses and remain at the top of the industry, which is why they are now presenting a new and original flavor, limited run, of course, that will hit the shelves (and the hearts of its customers) on May 5.
The new Oreo flavor, will it be as special as announced?
While Oreo has already released some fairly out there flavors already, some of them have been hit or miss depending on the market and demographics. Something many people do not realize is that depending on the country that they are in, Oreos might have different flavors, but some of the standout ones from the past five years in the US are toffee crunch, birthday cake, java chip, dirt cake, mint, and Coca-Cola. If you are paying attention, all these have something in common, they are all sweet.
To this you might be thinking “of course they are all sweet, it is Oreos, what else would they be?” Well, this new flavor will be a new step forward in the company as it will mark the first “sweet and savory” cookie that they produce. These new chocolate-covered pretzel flavored Oreos are likely to become new fan favorites, and fast.
The description that the company gives is sure to be enough to make you want to try them, as they promise “a playful pretzel twist on America’s favorite sandwich cookie. Supremely dunkable, these limited edition OREO cookies feature chocolate-flavored creme filling between crispy pretzel-flavored sandwich cookies topped with a sprinkling of salt. Savory and sweet treats that you can pack as lunchbox snacks to surprise loved ones, these certified kosher snack food cookies are wonderful office snacks and after-school snacks for kids and adults.”
And they are vegan as well.
While this new flavor is not a surprise to many considering a few of the most popular iterations of the cookie in recent years, it is actually one of the new benchmarks for the company for the way it was produced. Oreo parent company Mondelez International just equipped its food scientists with access to artificial-intelligence tools to help them create new and improved flavor profiles that would please their customers. This use of artificial intelligence is unprecedented, but it seems to have worked wonders for their productivity.
According to the company, this tool saves food scientists between two and ten weeks during the development process, and while there is nothing better than good old-fashioned testing to get things right, saving time is always a good thing when it comes to turning a profit. Apparently, this new technology is being used on several new developments, although Mondelez has declined to say which ones besides the creation of gluten-free Oreos and tweaking the Chips Ahoy recipe.
While these ideas are good and fun, the food scientists at Oreo are not exactly slackers or bad at coming up with new ideas as they have proven time and time again. Some of their more popular recipes have been in partnership with other companies, like the 2021 Krispy Kreme collaboration that resulted in two new doughnuts that remain popular to this day, the Oreo Cookie glazed doughnut and the Oreo Cookie Over-the-Top doughnut.