Nabisco didn't invent the chocolate chip cookie — it turned someone else's kitchen accident into one of America's biggest packaged snack brands.
A 1938 accident in Massachusetts
The chocolate chip cookie itself traces back to 1938, when Ruth Wakefield, who ran the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, chopped up a semi-sweet chocolate bar and stirred the pieces into her cookie dough, apparently expecting them to melt into the mixture the way melted chocolate normally would. They held their shape instead, and the chocolate chip cookie as it's known today was the result.
Nabisco turns it into a brand
Nabisco launched Chips Ahoy! in 1963, taking the homemade chocolate chip cookie format and turning it into a mass-produced, shelf-stable packaged snack. The name itself is a pun on the nautical phrase 'land ahoy', swapped out for chocolate chips, and the brand went on to become one of the best-selling cookie lines in the US.
Why UK shelves rely on imports
Chips Ahoy! has never had a dedicated UK manufacturing line, so the packs sold in Britain are generally shipped in directly from the US rather than produced locally. That's the main reason it's a staple of American candy specialists rather than a fixture in mainstream UK supermarkets, and it's also why UK buyers are getting the same recipe sold in America, including the US-style chewier variants, rather than a separate UK formulation.
You'll find it stocked among the wider American candy range.
Frequently asked questions
Who makes Chips Ahoy! and when did it launch?
Chips Ahoy! is made by Nabisco, part of Mondelez International today, and was first launched in the United States in 1963.
Who actually invented the chocolate chip cookie?
The chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1938 by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, after she chopped up a chocolate bar and added the pieces to her cookie dough, expecting them to melt smoothly into it.
Can you buy Chips Ahoy! in the UK?
Yes, but it isn't manufactured in the UK. The packs found in British shops are imported directly from the US, which is why Chips Ahoy! typically turns up in American candy specialists rather than mainstream UK supermarkets.