Case Study 8.3 Oreo (Mondelez) Until the mid-1990s the famous cookie brand, Oreo, formulated a modified recipe for the Chinese market, was mainly sold in the domestic US market. By the with four layers of crispy wafers filled with vanilla end of 1990s Oreo had been successfully introduced and chocolate cream, coated in chocolate. Further- in Europe and other places. more, a campaign to market the American style of Even if Oreo was launched in China already in pairing Oreos with milk paid off and Oreos became 1996 it was not successful there until the manage- one of the bestselling cookies of China. ment decided to understand why the Oreo cookie The Oreo production is done at the Kraft/Nabisco that was so successful in most countries had failed factory in Richmond, Virginia and partly in Mexico. in China. Research showed the Chinese were not his. Furthermore, Oreo is produced at different regional torically big cookie eaters. Chinese consumers liked locations around the world. the contrast of sweet and bitter but found that the Oreo is sold in more than 100 countries around cookie was a little bit too sweet and too bitter. As a the world. More than 500 billion Oreo cookies have result of this market research the Kraft management been sold worldwide since their debut in 1912. LEO M OREO Questions 1. What are the foundations of Oreo's global success? 2. What demographic changes and cultural issues might influence the future global market for Oreo? 3. What should be important screening criteria for Oreo (Mondelz) in the IMS? Source: Neno Brothers Images/Shutterstock.com