Few things are as predictable each year as taxes, failing to follow through on New Year’s resolutions and the fall arrival of Mallomars on store shelves.
The 113-year-old seasonal cookie, made by Oreo maker Mondelēz International, arrives in September before disappearing in the spring so the tempered chocolate enrobing each cookie doesn’t melt in the summer heat.
When Mallomars first appear, customers reportedly load up, with many people stockpiling them in their freezers. The cookie is in such high demand that at least one retailer clears shelf space for them, an unusual move in September, while other chains place pallets with cookie boxes on the store’s floor.
It may not be the most iconic cookie in the food giant’s portfolio, but Mallomar has carved out a valuable niche as a steady, dependable performer in a sea of snacking choices.
The cookie, which features round graham crackers topped with marshmallow and dark chocolate, has proven to be a steady performer over the years, generating roughly $11 million in annual sales with minimal marketing behind it. This stands in sharp contrast to Mondelēz’s cookie giants, such as Oreo, with nearly $2.1 billion in annual sales in the U.S, and Chips Ahoy, nearing $1 billion.
“It’s such a well-oiled machine,” said Caroline Suppiger, who oversees the brand for Mondelēz. “We know when to run it. We know where to sell it. We know who wants to buy it. So it doesn’t need a ton of brain power. It sells pretty much the same volume year over year when the rest of the category might not be growing as much or as stable.”
More than three-quarters of shoppers purchasing Mallomars live in the northeastern U.S. But the brand has gained traction in the South in recent years, where snowbirds in Florida and other neighboring states stock up on the cookie. At Publix, a grocery chain with more than 1,400 stores scattered throughout the Southeast, dollar sales of Mallomars have surged 37% during the last 52 weeks, according to the brand.
“It’s really just become this cultural icon,” said Suppiger, who grew up in Idaho and didn’t have her first Mallomar until she started at Mondelēz in 2020. “There’s a lot of that nostalgia that you had it growing up with your grandma, with your grandpa, with your parents. It’s a really unique cookie.”
Mondelēz points out that while refrigerated trucks, which didn’t exist more than a century ago, their presence now means Mallomars could appear on shelves year-round.
Still, the snack maker has refrained from making the cookie a permanent fixture, citing tradition, the scarcity that comes with a limited run and the small size of the brand available in a select region of the U.S. Mondelēz also uses the production lines where Mallomars are made to produce other cookies, including chocolate-covered Oreo.
