Cookie fans are marking the new Chips Ahoy! recipe as “horrible” and “truly terrible” after the iconic American brand altered its ingredients earlier this year.
The company introduced a new recipe for its original cookie in March, which was the biggest update to the snack in nearly a decade.
Bosses said the new ‘MMMproved’ biscuit had been revamped with chocolate chips with a higher cocoa content and ‘just the right biscuit texture’.
The development of the new recipe took more than four years and testers considered 60 different recipes before making the final decision.
But many Americans are taking to social media to express their displeasure at the change to the beloved snack, and as a result, some have even vowed to never buy the brand again.
Chips Ahoy is the best-selling chocolate chip cookie brand in the U.S., accounting for more than half of sales. A 13-ounce package costs about $4 in stores.
The company introduced a new recipe for its original cookie in March, which was the biggest update to the snack in nearly a decade.
One user wrote on Reddit: ‘Really terrible. It’s absolutely disgraceful that anyone gave this the green light. I’ve been eating Chips Ahoy my whole life, but this is worse than the worst budget store brands. I will never buy again. Sad.’
Others asked why the company would change the recipe for its most popular cookie.
‘I loved Chips Ahoy. I had one of the new ones and threw away an entire party-sized box,” wrote another.
Another person simply stated: ‘The “new” Chips Ahoy recipe sucks.
Complaints from frustrated customers include that the cookies are “stale,” “overcooked” and have an “unpleasant vanilla aftertaste.”
‘Stock up on the originals whenever I can find them. The new ones taste like darker chocolate with an unpleasant vanilla aftertaste,” another disgruntled customer wrote on Reddit.
The updated recipe includes “specially blended” chocolate chips that feature a higher cocoa content and more concentrated Madagascar vanilla extract.
Chips Ahoy! The cookies have more than 53 percent of the chocolate chip cookie market share in the U.S., the company’s senior director, Sabrina Sierant, said in a statement. statement.
The company, owned by giant Mondelez International, which also owns Oreo and Cadbury, has been making cookies since the 1960s.
According to research company Euromonitor International, Chips Ahoy! ranks first in the cookie category globally, with more than 10 percent of the market.
Complaints from frustrated customers include that the cookies are “stale,” “overcooked” and have an “unpleasant vanilla aftertaste.”
Cocoa prices have been increasing since the second half of 2023 due to bad weather
But the classic brand is not the only one that has modified its products during the last year.
Cocoa prices have soared in recent months due to poor weather and bean diseases in West Africa, which is home to 70 percent of global cocoa production.
This, in turn, has restricted supply and caused prices to skyrocket.
This has meant that some candy brands are offering more chocolate-free treats or altering existing recipes.
For example, youhe latest addition to Hershey’s line of permanent flavors is a chocolate frosted donut-flavored Kit Kat bar, which is only partially dipped in chocolate rather than completely covered. Bloomberg reported earlier this year.