Oreo Owner Mondelez Buys Tate’s Bake Shop for $500 Million | Eater

"Based in Southampton, New York, this family-developed cookie maker is best known for thin, flat, crisp chocolate chip cookies meant to be dunked: they soften with a five-second dip in milk, tea, or coffee without breaking. The packaged cookies offer a pleasing, not-too-sweet balance of butter, brown sugar, and dark chocolate chips—more of a tan wafer than a gooey fresh-baked biscuit—so they succeed as a shelf-stable product without glazes or gimmicks. Recently acquired by Mondelez International (the Oreo maker) for about $500 million, the brand is being positioned as a premium, higher-price-point offering with plans for wider distribution while operating as a standalone business, though there is concern that scaling production could pressure the original facility and lead to recipe changes. The company keeps a relatively restrained lineup— including a gluten-free line, a vanilla cookie useful for strawberry shortcake, coconut crisps for crumbling over ice cream, a popular white chocolate–macadamia variety, and limited flavors like Key Lime Coconut and an orange-scented vanilla—and many fans and food personalities hope the new owner preserves its Hamptons cottage roots and simple product philosophy rather than overextending the brand with gimmicky spin-offs." - Daniela Galarza