This video is sponsored by Atlas VPN. Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. You probably know of the tradition of twisting, licking or dunking the cookie, but few know the dark side of its history. That’s because many of its secrets have been buried for over 100 years, starting with the cookie being a knockoff with a questionable filling. Before we get into the next part of the story, our team would like to quickly thank our sponsor, Atlas VPN. Developed by top cybersecurity specialists and IT engineers, Atlas VPN encrypts your personal data and hides your virtual location on any device. Currently, Atlas VPN is offering Hook members a three-year deal for only $1.39 per month with a 30-day money-back guarantee. On average, companies collect and sell 75,000 data points about the average consumer. Fortunately, Atlas VPN has a tool that alerts you when this has happened. 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The deal won't last for long, so make sure to check it out at http://atlasv.pn/Hook, or click the link in the description below. In the 19th century, two cousins from Lancaster, England, both named Thomas Vicars, ran a small factory called T&T Vicars. The factory designed and built machines to make a food staple that kept sailors and soldiers alive for centuries: ship biscuits. These simple biscuits consisted of flour, salt, and water and were made to be rock hard to last for years since sailors and soldiers needed them for long voyages. They tasted bland and could only be consumed when soaked in water or any other liquid. While inconvenient, the demand for them lasted for many years — up until a series of events. After steamships were invented and the Civil War had ended, there became less of a need for biscuits that could withstand long voyages. At the same time, sugar became less expensive, creating the demand for biscuits that were sweet. When the Vicars caught onto this new demand, they became wary that it was just a matter of time until they closed their factory doors. All the machines that they designed and built could only make ship biscuits. So they decided to change with the times and offer new machines that made sweet biscuits instead. It proved to be a worthwhile risk. Sweet biscuits became more popular across England and even a luxury product. America quickly caught onto the trend and began importing machines to make their own. Afterward, many manufacturers seized opportunities to venture into the growing industry, including two brothers from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania: Jacob and Joseph Loose. At just 16-years-old, Jacob Loose dropped out of high school to work as a clerk at a dry goods store — earning $5 a week. Within just a few years, he had saved enough money to open his own store, and later, a second location. As the years went by, business continued to thrive, and Jacob felt confident enough to expand into other ventures. Eventually, Jacob discovered an opportunity in Kansas, Missouri: taking over a small, family-run bakery that made biscuits and candies. He had a hunch that the baking industry would continue to grow and convinced his brother, Joseph, to be his business partner. At the time, Joseph also ran his own dry goods store. Together, the Loose brothers emptied their savings, purchased the bakery, and called it the Loose Brothers Manufacturing Company. Within just a few years, the Loose brothers managed to grow the company into a multimillion-dollar business. It was undeniably a great accomplishment, but Jacob wasn’t satisfied. Companies in other industries like oil and steel were gaining more capital through a new practice called conglomerating, which involves merging a number of businesses to operate as a single entity. It was unheard of in the food industry, but Jacob believed that it could work, since it would allow bakeries to buy huge lots of wheat and contract directly with farmers. So he hired a lawyer named Adolphus Green to be his general counsel and to convince other bakeries in the Midwest to form a conglomerate. While Adolphus had no legal experience in the food industry, he succeeded in bringing together 35 bakeries under the name the American Biscuit Company. They became so successful that bakeries in other regions formed their own conglomerates: the New York Biscuit Company and the United States Baking Company. Soon after, the rival conglomerates embarked on a bitter war. The competition became so fierce that the price of biscuits fell by 40% industry-wide and led to the American Biscuit Company teetering on the brink of collapse. Slowly, the struggle to survive took a toll on Jacob. He became seriously ill and was forced to step down as president of the American Biscuit Company. Afterward, he traveled to Europe to recover, leaving Joseph in charge. Joseph was fed up with the bitter war against the American Biscuit Company’s rivals. So his first order of business was to find a way to make peace. He settled on a profitable but grand idea that would mirror his brother’s footsteps in an unimaginable way: forming a conglomerate with the New York Biscuit Company and the United States Baking Company. From his sickbed, Jacob received the news by letter. He hurriedly wrote back to Joseph, begging him to reconsider. Joseph ignored his pleas, and with the help of Adolphus, succeeded in merging the company with its rivals. Together, they formed the largest baking conglomerate in America: the National Biscuit Company, which later became Nabisco. Before Joseph could celebrate, he discovered that he had made a grave mistake. Adolphus had done more than prepare the paperwork — listing himself as president of Nabisco and the Loose brothers as simply board members. Adolphus was now in control of the largest baking company in America. When Jacob received the news, he felt helpless. All he could do was push himself to get better and seek revenge then. This is a Hook exclusive, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel. A few years after the merger, Jacob’s health finally improved. He reconciled with Joseph, and together, they formed a new company with a businessman named John Wiles. Their new venture was called the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company. By then, Adolphus had grown Nabisco by coming up with a groundbreaking invention: an inner seal package, which consisted of a waxed paper sleeve to hold biscuits inside a cardboard container. Traditionally, biscuits were placed in and sold from barrels, making them susceptible to breaking or spoiling. Now, Nabisco could sell biscuits that remained fresh and could be shipped nationally since the waxed paper locked out air and wicked away moisture. Their first line of packaged biscuits was called Uneeda. To compete with Adolphus, Joseph knew he would have to come up with his own groundbreaking invention. So he decided to launch a product that Nabisco didn’t offer: a sweet cake — which is now known as a cookie. It was a delicacy that only the wealthy could afford, so Joseph focused on creating a recipe that would make his cookies delicious and affordable. After many failed attempts, Joseph decided to try his luck with a new trend sweeping America: chocolate. He believed that if he added cocoa to his recipe, he would be closer to coming up with a groundbreaking invention, setting it apart from most cookies that just consisted of sugar and butter. The idea led to developing a recipe that combined two novelties: using cocoa powder as an ingredient and sandwiching a vanilla filling between two cookies. Joseph made use of a new invention by T&T Vicars to make his cookies efficiently and appear fancier. It was a machine that could simultaneously cut up to 80 cookies per minute while embossing patterns on every single one. The design that Joseph chose featured a laurel wreath and a genus of flowering plants, Oreodaphne. Once Joseph perfected his recipe, he and Jacob started to think of names that would appeal to Americans. At the time, Americans were concerned about the purity of food since companies were adding fillers like chalk and brick dust into their products to save on ingredients and maximize profits. This practice became so common that Congress enacted a food purity law. With this widespread problem in mind, the Loose brothers brainstormed for names that evoked purity. Water was the purest thing they could think of, so they combined its elements — hydrogen and oxygen — and came up with the name Hydrox. Coincidentally, companies in other industries were using the same name for their products, especially for food. There was a Hydrox ice cream, Hydrox ginger ale, and a Hydrox root beer. But the Loose brothers’ cookies were such a novelty that when they launched, they stood out, and people were hooked. As Hydrox’s popularity grew, Nabisco’s profits fell. Adolphus became fearful and even desperate. He set out to offer his own sensational cookie. The competing product sandwiched a vanilla filling between two cookies, and featured a laurel wreath. Along with mirroring Hydrox’s recipe and design, Nabisco allegedly named it after the genus of flowering plants embossed on the cookie: Oreo. By the time Nabisco launched Oreo, Hydrox ranked as one of the most popular cookies in America and was even nicknamed the "King of Biscuits." Many Americans liked that Hydrox was one of the first products to be certified kosher. In contrast, Oreo was non-kosher and contained lard — pig fat — for years. Grocery stores struggled to get customers to try Oreos. And one store found themselves stuck with 700 tins even after putting them on sale. Adolphus refused to lose out to the Loose brothers. He was convinced that he could overthrow them again by coming up with a brilliant ad campaign. So he did some market research and discovered that consumers had a habit of twisting an Oreo before eating it. They would either try to guess which side the cream would be on, keep the cream intact on one side, or hold one side while another person holds the other to see who ends up with the cream. Sensing this mere habit could turn into a fun tradition, Adolphus made it the focus of his new campaign. Meanwhile, the Loose brothers were experiencing more success than ever before. Along with opening the world’s largest baking factory, the company became one of the biggest of its kind in America — placing only second to Nabisco. But like any journey to the top, there were many losses along the way. Joseph suddenly passed away from heart disease. And only one year later, Jacob passed away from an unknown cause, leaving their business partner, John to battle Nabisco alone. That same year, Nabisco’s Oreo twist campaign launched, and the cookie took off — taking a huge bite of Loose-Wiles’ profits. And over the next few decades, Loose-Wiles continued to crumble. Like his partners, John suddenly passed away from an unknown cause. Loose-Wiles’ VP, Hanford Main, was promoted to president. Under his leadership, the company was renamed Sunshine Biscuits and focused on promoting Hydrox as being an original. Meanwhile, Nabisco focused on promoting Oreo’s taste and quality and increased its price. Many started to believe that Hydrox was not only the copycat but a cheap version of Oreo. Afterward, Sunshine Biscuits crumbled down within Corporate America. It was sold to the American Tobacco Company, resold to Granny Goose Foods, and then resold again to Keebler Foods. Keebler tried to revive Hydrox by changing the recipe and renaming it Droxies, but their efforts failed. Later, Kellogg’s acquired Keebler and discontinued Droxies without warning. Many Americans were devastated by the news and pledged their loyalty to Hydrox. This is a dark time in cookie history. For those of you who say, 'Get over it, it's only a cookie,' you have not lived until you have tasted a Hydrox. Hydrox eaters tend to be independent-thinkers, favor underdogs, and be skeptical of corporate marketing. Even with Hydrox gone, they won't switch sides. Meanwhile, Nabisco continued to grow and became one of the largest baking companies in the world. Unbeknownst to them, an outsider would step in to carry on the Loose-Wiles legacy. One day I'm driving in the car with my dad and I turned to him, I said, "I'm bringing Hydrox back." It was like my mission, you know. I'm bringing that cookie that we always had, that you always used to buy, you know, when I was a kid. "I'm bringing it back.” In the early 2000s, a tech recruiter named Ellia Kassoff headed to his local Smart & Final in Southern California, desperately hoping he wouldn’t have to return home empty-handed for the dozenth time. It was the only place where he could buy a box full of one of his favorite childhood candies, Astro Pops: an aerodynamic-shaped lollipop created by two rocket scientists in the ‘60s — arguably the most iconic lollipop in the world because of its unique shape. For several months, they were nowhere to be found in Smart & Final. And this day was no different. When Ellia asked the staff about them, he was taken aback by their response: Astro Pops had been discontinued. Most people would have let it go. But Ellia wasn't like most. His aunt, Doris Kassoff, married Ed Leaf, after meeting at a USO dance following World War II. Ed’s father and uncles founded Leaf Brands nearly 100 years ago — which made Jolly Ranchers, Whoppers, Milk Duds, and other iconic products. When Ellia was a child, he would visit family in New York every summer and was always given candy samples from uncle Ed. Ellia would either keep them for himself or sell them at school during recess. To him, candy was more than just a treat. It was part of his family’s legacy. So I couldn't let my favorite lollipops, you know, die. So I called up the company called Spangler, which made Astro Pops at the time. And I just said, "Where are they?" And they said, "Yeah, we decided it wasn't part of our marketing mix, so we just discontinued it." So it just kind of came out of my mouth, I said, "Would you sell the rights?" Because I couldn't just let someone else either take the reins of it or just let the product die out. It was my job to kind of take it and keep it and rebuild it. So they said, "Sure, we'll sell it to you. We're not doing anything with the rights and we're not making any more.” At the time, Ellia was at the top of his field and had just finalized the largest cash deal in the history of recruiting. He planned on bringing Astro Pops back as a mere hobby and then go back to focusing on recruiting. But I was having so much fun bringing Astro Pops back. You know, the day I bought the rights, I couldn't sleep. Cause it was like, "Oh my gosh, I own my favorite candy in the world. And it's all mine. Like how could that be?” You know, how could that--. That’s impossible. And at the time I said to myself, once I started having all this fun, I started saying, "I wonder what other products are out there that were discontinued that I liked as a kid that are no longer made. I mean, there's gotta be others." Ellia decided to relaunch Astro Pops and more of his favorite childhood products under the Leaf Brands name. So he immediately acquired the trademark since The Hershey Company purchased its U.S. division in the '90s. After acquiring the Leaf Brands trademark and succeeding in relaunching a few products, Ellia set out to bring back Hydrox. Like the others, he discovered that it was discontinued because of poor management decisions, like changing the recipe or name. And that there were many people like him who longed for Hydrox's return. There was just one problem: Kellogg's still owned the Hydrox trademark and allegedly sold crushed bits that were mixed with other products, such as ice cream. And since it was a billion-dollar company, it was surely going to be difficult for Ellia to find out and acquire the rights. He couldn't just call up the CEO as he did with Astro Pops. So he decided to write a letter to Kellogg's, asking if they were selling Hydrox as crushed bits or whole cookies, and if so, where he could find them. Surprisingly, he received a letter back from Kellogg's, informing him that they've discontinued Hydrox. Kellogg's mere response was the proof that Ellia needed to fight for Hydrox's trademark. Because under federal law, anyone can purchase a trademark if they have proof that a company has no plans of using it. Ellia immediately applied for Hydrox's and was given the rights a year later. Now that Ellia had the Hydrox trademark, he had to solve another problem: recreating the original recipe. Ellia started by looking for an old, unopened package to uncover the ingredients and managed to find one from 1998 on Craigslist for $7. Afterward, he enlisted help from Sunshine Biscuit’s former CEO and his head of product development, food scientists, and Hydrox fans to recreate the recipe. Fortunately, their joint efforts were a success, and Ellia was able to relaunch Hydrox a year later. In a strange twist of fate, Nabisco, now renamed Mondelēz, started crumbling beginning that year. Then presidential candidate, Donald Trump, announced that he was boycotting Oreo after discovering Mondelēz laid off half of its U.S. workers to move production to Mexico. No more Oreos. They make Oreos, don’t they, right? No more Oreos, I don’t like Oreos anymore. And later, the media revealed when Mondelēz made Oreo kosher, they replaced lard with hydrogenated oil — which is even worse for the heart — and didn't use a healthier alternative until nearly a decade after. Meanwhile, Leaf Brands was making Hydrox without hydrogenated oil or other low-quality ingredients. The media also revealed that the FDA allegedly prohibited Mondelēz from using the term "cream" to market Oreos since it didn't contain the product — at all. Mondelēz clearly had their hands full. Still, new allegations claim that it didn't stop them from trying to get a hold of the one product that kept them in line for decades: Hydrox. When Ellia relaunched Hydrox, thousands of supermarkets stocked up and sales rang up about half a million dollars. The numbers proved that Hydrox still had a loyal following and convinced major retailers to carry the brand. But yet again, there was another problem that stood in Ellia’s way. One he had no idea about until one of the most powerful companies in the world stepped in. It was actually a buyer at Walmart, that we're sitting in her office. And she's like, "Look, I'm going to bring Hydrox back and put them in Walmart. But I gotta warn you, you're going to run into a major problem. And you need to figure out how to deal with that problem.” And I'm looking at her going, I'm excited, we're getting into Walmart, you know. And I'm like, "Problem? What problem?" She's like, "Well, the Mondelēz folks come into our stores a couple of times a week to do restocking. They're going to hide your product any chance they get. They're going to hide it in the back of the shelf, back of the store, anywhere they can to make sure you fail because you're their closest threat." Ellia was shocked but not surprised. Mondelēz is a category captain for a number of retailers — a supplier that assists in determining where products should be placed on store shelves. Moreover, they have a direct store distribution system, delivering and restocking their own products a few times a week instead of going through a third-party distributor. Not long after Ellia received the warning, several retail buyers and customers reported that they noticed Hydrox appeared to be hidden in stores. They were allegedly moved to the top of a shelf, turned sideways so that the label couldn’t be seen, or blocked by other products and tags — forcing Ellia to file a complaint with the FTC and seek damages in court. When he shared the news on Facebook, many people came forward to share their own experiences. Our local Ralph’s Kroger’s carried Hydrox Cookies for over a year. We bought every week. Checkers said they were flying off the shelf. All of a sudden… Gone. An employee told me the Oreo folks threatened to cut back on their deliveries if Hydrox wasn’t dropped... This is NOT what American competition is about. This is predatory. I had to threaten to throw Nabisco out of some stores I operated back in the 60's and 70's because of their aggressive behavior in stealing shelf space and damaging competitors products. I had to separate a Nabisco and Sunshine employee who had tied up in the middle of the cookie aisle because of Nabisco infringing on Sunshine's shelf space. This is not a new practice of Nabisco. It has been going on for a long time. I can personally attest that Mondelez DOES in fact do this. I was a Retail Reset Merchandiser for SAS Retail Services one of the 5 Walmart-approved vendors. In my territory of 5 Walmart stores, I regularly would see Mondelez Merchandisers and that company has them do some shady things. I personally work for Nabisco and have NEVER been instructed to move/hide your cookies ... This is a retail store issue and not a Mondelez issue. While Mondelēz denied the allegations, Ellia remains committed to seeking justice for Hydrox — which is now being sold on Amazon. And even though he discovered Oreo is now being marketed as "The Original," he isn't the slightest bit discouraged from continuing to produce Hydrox. In an interview, Ellia revealed how he’s managed to persevere and what advice he would give to other entrepreneurs. It might sound corny, but find stuff that you really love to do, you know, what is your passion? Because that's where you're going to put most of your energy. It's not stuff that you're not really passionate about. When you add that passion into your, whatever you do, you're doing it at 100 to 110%. You're not going to worry about little barriers or little walls that people put up because, you know, and you believe in what you're doing. So that's the key thing. Find something that you really like, not something that you can make a lot of money in necessarily because that'll come later, you know. If you're so committed and you really put that passion in it'll convert, you know, in your success. This is the story of an American invention that created the world’s best-selling cookie and the people who fought corporate giants to keep it alive. For more inspiring stories and advice from today's most successful leaders, don't forget to subscribe to our channel!
