General Discussion

Omaha Steve

(99,780 posts) Wed Apr 11, 2012, 07:30 PM Apr 2012

What’s the best-selling cookie (and which union makes it)?

http://www.unionplus.org/blog/union-issues/oreo-cookie-birthday?email1

Posted by BCTGM on March 15, 2012

The Best Selling Cookie of the 20th Century

In 1898, several baking companies merged to form the National Biscuit Company (NaBisCo), and opened a large industrial bakery in New York City on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets at the Chelsea Market Building. By 1902, the company had its first nationwide success in Barnum’s Animal crackers, which were sold in boxes painted as animal cages.

In 1912, Nabisco had an idea for a new cookie – two chocolate disks with a sugar creme filling in between. That year Nabisco sold its first package of Oreo Cookies to a store in Hoboken, N.J. Today, more than 12 billion Oreo cookies are consumed each year. In order to keep up with this voluminous demand, BCTGM members use 22 million pounds of coca and 64.1 million pounds of cream filling.

So how did the Oreo get its name? The people at Nabisco aren’t quite sure. Some believe that the cookie’s name was taken from the French word for gold, “or” (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for mountain, “oreo.” Still others believe the name is a combination of taking the “re” from “cream” and placing it between the two “o”s in “chocolate” —making “o-re-o.” And still others believe that the cookie was named Oreo because it was short and easy to pronounce.

No matter how it got named, more than 362 billion Oreo cookies have been sold since it was first introduced in 1912, making it the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

FULL story at link.

The BCTGM International Union is a modern union with old-fashioned values. We are dedicated to giving workers in our industries a voice and a vote in their workplace. We believe that all workers should be treated with Dignity, Justice and Respect on the job.

The BCTGM represents working men and women at some of the best known companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. We represent manufacturing, production workers, maintenance and sanitation workers in the bakery, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries in North America.

The primary goal of the BCTGM has not changed in more than 125 years: To bring economic justice in the workplace to all workers in our jurisdiction and social justice to workers throughout North America.