Dive Brief:
- Nestlé has rolled out an edible cookie dough product under its Toll House brand. The company didn't formally announce the new item, but it acknowledged the debutby tweeting in responseto reports of the product's existence fromTODAY,CNNandCosmopolitan.
- The product comes in two varieties — Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Monster and Chocolate Chip — and is labeled with "Do Not Bake" on the container.
- According to People, it is being sold at Publix stores and will also be available at Meijer, some Walmart outlets and regional chains throughout July. A 15-ounce container costs about $4.97.
Dive Insight:
While this product is a first forNestlé苏,其他饼干面团制造商ccessfully introduced edible cookie dough.Safe-to-eat raw cookie dough, sold in eithershopsorgrocery stores, has become abigger trendin recent years.New York's DŌoffers an entire lineup at a raw cookie dough store; theCookie Dough Caféserves up cookie dough in bars, jars and tubs;Edoughblehas products available online; and Ben & Jerry'srecently launched cookie dough chunks. Although there is a lot of competition in the category, Toll House's name recognition and reputation could give it an advantage.
Nestlé already seems to be taking full advantage of a stealth social media campaign touting its new edible cookie dough product. The product is attracting attention on social media from legions of cookie dough lovers who have probably been sneaking it by the spoonful since they were kids and would welcome a branded product formulated to be safer.
The company's new productmight have to overcome concerns from consumers who have been cautious after all of thewarnings from the FDAand a major recall of its signature dough.Nestlé Toll House refrigerated raw cookie dough saw a big recall 10 years ago for E. coli contamination after72 people in 30 states were sickenedand 34 were hospitalized. The FDAfound a contaminatedsample at the company's plant in Virginia andBaking Business reportedthe pathogen was later traced to flour. That sparked an ongoing public education campaign warning consumers about the dangers of eating any products containing raw flour or raw eggs.
Given thepenchant for nostalgia, indulgence and the public's sweet tooth, cookie dough remains a culinary treat people want to try even when they know the raw product can be dangerous. And companies have worked over the years to create a safe-to-eat product.
Following the high-profile refrigerated cookie dough recall,Nestlé has startedheat-treating the flour it uses in that product in early 2010. TODAY Foodreported一个品牌代表说,食用饼干道格h doesn't contain eggs and is made with heat-treated flour, which could help ease safety concerns.
If Nestlé keeps tight control over its production of edible cookie dough — and it's likely doing so after the 2009 recall episode — consumers will probably be willing to try it since they're familiar with the Toll House brand and may be curious to see what the edible cookie dough product is like.
Since this rollout may be a limited-edition one, it's not clear whether the product will become a permanent portfolio addition. However, the edible cookie dough is about twice the price of the regular, so Nestlé potentially has a lot to gain by keeping the new product around for further marketing and distribution if consumers like what they taste.
