Product type | Cookie |
---|---|
Owner | Mondelez International |
Country | U.S. |
Introduced | 1898 |
Previous owners | Nabisco |
Website | snackworks.com/nilla |
Nilla is a brand name owned by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International, widely associated with its line of vanilla-flavored, wafer-style cookies.
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. [1] Originally a round, thin, light wafer cookie made with flour, sugar, shortening, eggs [2] and real vanilla, Nilla wafers have been primarily flavored with synthetic vanillin since at least 1994, a change which prompted criticism. [3] [4] Nilla wafers are described as having "natural and artificial flavor", according to the ingredients list on the box. [5]
Nilla also produces 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. [6]
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. [7] [8] [9] He sold his recipe to Nabisco, and Nabisco began to produce the biscuits under the name Vanilla Wafers in 1898. [1] 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. [1] [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]
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]
Nilla wafers no longer have any vanilla in them.
Gustav a. Mayer.
Nilla vanilla wafers are the same sweet Nabisco vanilla wafers with a brand new name.
For example, it is common to use a wafer cookie for oral administration to mice and rats
Product type | Cookie |
---|---|
Owner | Mondelez International |
Country | U.S. |
Introduced | 1898 |
Previous owners | Nabisco |
Website | snackworks.com/nilla |
Nilla is a brand name owned by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International, widely associated with its line of vanilla-flavored, wafer-style cookies.
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. [1] Originally a round, thin, light wafer cookie made with flour, sugar, shortening, eggs [2] and real vanilla, Nilla wafers have been primarily flavored with synthetic vanillin since at least 1994, a change which prompted criticism. [3] [4] Nilla wafers are described as having "natural and artificial flavor", according to the ingredients list on the box. [5]
Nilla also produces 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. [6]
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. [7] [8] [9] He sold his recipe to Nabisco, and Nabisco began to produce the biscuits under the name Vanilla Wafers in 1898. [1] 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. [1] [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]
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]
Nilla wafers no longer have any vanilla in them.
Gustav a. Mayer.
Nilla vanilla wafers are the same sweet Nabisco vanilla wafers with a brand new name.
For example, it is common to use a wafer cookie for oral administration to mice and rats