Mondelez International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) is deploying a consumer-activation play for OREO that puts product-line decisions directly in shoppers' hands — a strategy with clear implications for retail snack buyers and foodservice ingredient sourcing alike. The brand is releasing three limited-edition flavors simultaneously beginning Aug. 24: OREO Banana Pudding Cookies, OREO Deep Fried Cookies, and OREO Chicken & Waffles Cookies. A public vote running Aug. 17 through Oct. 12 will determine which single flavor earns a nationwide retail return in 2027.
The Product Lineup
All three SKUs were developed through more than a year of internal R&D, according to Rohit Sakhamuri, Senior Brand Manager for OREO Innovation, who cited the brand's 2026 Mondelez State of Snacking report as the insight foundation. The Banana Pudding variant features a dual-layered banana and vanilla pudding creme between vanilla wafer cookies. The Deep Fried cookie delivers fried-dough flavor baked into both the cookie shell and a dark chocolate–fried dough creme. The Chicken & Waffles entry — described as a first-of-its-kind format — carries a waffle-texture embossment on the cookie itself with a dual-layered sweet-savory creme meant to evoke fried chicken and maple syrup.
The flavor choices are deliberate signals toward on-trend foodservice daypart crossovers. Chicken and waffles has been a durable brunch and all-day-breakfast menu driver across full-service and fast-casual segments for several years, and fried fair food maintains strong LTO traction at theme parks and seasonal retail. Translating those culinary cues into packaged-goods SKUs is a mechanism Mondelez and peers like Frito-Lay and Kellanova have used repeatedly to ride foodservice trend cycles into the snack aisle.
Distribution and Voting Mechanics
Presale access opens Aug. 17 via OREO.com and TikTok Shop, with full retail distribution rolling out Aug. 24 while supplies last. The voting portal at OREO.com/twist-lick-vote accepts entries through Oct. 12, with the winning flavor announced Oct. 13. Each eligible vote enters the consumer into a sweepstakes for a year's supply of original OREO cookies.
Matt Foley, Vice President of OREO, framed the campaign as an evolution from passive product launches to what he called "a dynamic, two-way conversation" with the brand's consumer base. The mechanics also function as a built-in demand-signal tool: voting data gives Mondelez a read on consumer flavor preference before committing the winning SKU to broader 2027 production planning.
Snack Category Context
For retail foodservice operators and convenience channel buyers, the three-way LTO drop illustrates a broader industry pattern of accelerated SKU experimentation funded by strong parent-brand equity. OREO's scale — more than 20 billion cookies sold annually in the U.S. alone, according to Mondelez figures — provides the distribution muscle to move three simultaneous LTOs without cannibalizing core velocity. That same infrastructure makes OREO a relevant ingredient-brand partner for foodservice operators exploring branded cookie inclusions in dessert programs.
Mondelez reported approximately $38.5 billion in 2025 net revenues across its global portfolio, which includes RITZ, CLIF BAR, Cadbury Dairy Milk, and Milka. The OREO brand remains the company's highest-profile volume driver in North America, and limited-edition flavor drops have historically supported trade velocity and secondary display placement at grocery — a tactic closely watched by snack and confection category managers across retail foodservice channels.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
