Nilla Wafers Explained

Nilla Wafers
Producttype:Cookie
Currentowner:Mondelez International
Country:U.S.
Previousowners:Nabisco

Nilla Wafers are vanilla-flavored, wafer-style cookies made by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.

The name is a shortened version of vanilla, the flavor profile common to all Nilla-branded products. Originally marketed as Nabisco Vanilla Wafers, the product's name was changed in 1967 to the abbreviated form, Nilla Wafer. Originally a round, thin, light wafer cookie made with flour, sugar, shortening, eggs[1] and real vanilla, Nilla wafers have been primarily flavored with synthetic vanillin since at least 1994, a change which prompted criticism.[2] [3] Nilla wafers are described as having "natural and artificial flavor", according to the ingredients list on the box.[4]

Nilla produced a variety of spin-off products, including pie crusts. The crusts were introduced in 1992 alongside pie crusts flavored like two other Nabisco cookie brands, Oreos and Honey Grahams.[5]

History

The recipe for vanilla wafers or sugar wafers was invented in the late 19th century by German-American confectioner Gustav A. Mayer on Staten Island.[6] [7] [8] He sold his recipe to Nabisco, and Nabisco began to produce the biscuits under the name Vanilla Wafers in 1898.[9] By the 1940s, Vanilla Wafers had become a major ingredient in the Southern cuisine staple banana pudding, and Nabisco began printing a banana pudding recipe on the Vanilla Wafers box.[10] [11] The name of the product was not changed to "Nilla Wafers" until 1967.[12]

In 2013, the brand launched an advertising campaign on Facebook and other social media websites targeted at mothers, a campaign noted by the New York Times as unique because Mondelez International, the company that Kraft created to own the brand, spent its advertising dollars on social media rather than a combination of advertising platforms. The campaign resulted in a 9% increase in sales for Nilla.[13] Nabisco had previously used other marketing techniques to promote the brand, including in-person events such as sponsoring banana pudding pie eating contests at amusement parks.[14]

Uses

Nilla wafers are a common ingredient in banana pudding and are consequently popular in the American South. In Atlanta and Houston, they are consistently in the five best-selling cookie brands.[15]

The wafers themselves are commonly used to facilitate the oral administration of various compounds or medications to rats in testing.[16] Nilla's branding has been used to study consumer preferences about variations in packaging.[17]

Notes and References

  1. News: Hartel. Richard W.. 2006-06-06. Cracker or cookie: What's the diff?. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008180458/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-146715461.html. dead. 2017-10-08. The Capital Times.
  2. News: Hofsess. Diane. 1994-02-24. Shopping? It's Smart To Be Suspicious. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007220504/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4215867.html. dead. 2017-10-07. Chicago Sun-Times.
  3. News: Hermann. Andrew. 1997-09-16. New, improved – or just different. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007115930/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4407431.html. dead. 2017-10-07. Chicago Sun-Times. Nilla wafers no longer have any vanilla in them..
  4. Bomgardner. Melody M.. 2016-09-12. The problem with vanilla. Chemical & Engineering News. 94. 36.
  5. 1992-11-25. 'Sinkies' Get Serious. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008180415/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1084EF96D07B704B.html. dead. 2017-10-08. Post-Tribune (IN).
  6. News: 'Haunted' Staten Island mansion can be yours for $2 million. 2015-02-26. New York Post. 2017-10-08. en-US. Gould. Jennifer. Rosenbaum. Sophia.
  7. Book: Kroessler, Jeffrey A.. New York Year by Year: A Chronology of the Great Metropolis. registration. 115. Gustav a. Mayer.. August 2002. NYU Press. 9780814747506. en.
  8. Web site: Meet Gustav A. Mayer . Zinn Brilliant . 4 November 2019.
    Mayer moved to the U.S. in the late 1850s at age 19. In the 1880s Mayer's mold-making experience led him to design a line of indirectly-lit, tin Christmas ornaments.
  9. Web site: Counterintuitive Wafers - December 6, 1999. archive.fortune.com. 2017-10-08.
  10. Web site: Why do Southerners go bananas for banana pudding? Southern Perspective. Pensacola News Journal. en. 2019-05-03.
  11. Web site: How Banana Pudding Became a Southern Icon. Eats. Serious. www.seriouseats.com. en. 2017-10-08.
  12. Book: Office, Library of Congress Copyright. Commercial Prints and Labels. 1967. U.S. Government Printing Office. en. Nilla vanilla wafers are the same sweet Nabisco vanilla wafers with a brand new name..
  13. News: Riding the Hashtag in Social Media Marketing. New York Times. 2 November 2013. 6 October 2017. Segal. David.
  14. Book: Terry Halbert. Elaine Ingulli. Law and Ethics in the Business Environment. 1 February 2014. Cengage Learning. 978-1-305-17787-1. 275.
  15. 2005-11-14. Consumer snack preferences; Oreos still no. 1 cookie. (New Product Activity Outpacing 2004) (Brief Article). https://web.archive.org/web/20171008180455/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-139594637.html. dead. 2017-10-08. The Food Institute Report.
  16. Sobolewski. Marissa. Allen. Joshua L.. Morris-Schaffer. Keith. Klocke. Carolyn. Conrad. Katherine. Cory-Slechta. Deborah A.. 2016-07-01. A novel, ecologically relevant, highly preferred, and non-invasive means of oral substance administration for rodents. Neurotoxicology and Teratology. 56. Supplement C. 75–80. 10.1016/j.ntt.2016.04.002. 27094606. 5663185. 2016NTxT...56...75S . For example, it is common to use a wafer cookie for oral administration to mice and rats.
  17. Roehm. Michelle L.. Roehm. Harper A.. 2010-12-01. The relationship between packaging uniformity and variety seeking. Psychology & Marketing. en. 27. 12. 1122–1133. 10.1002/mar.20376. 1520-6793.

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