Archway Cookies

Did You Know?

• By the late 1980s, Archway had become the largest manufacturer of holiday cookies in the world.
• Archway introduced a successful 'fat-free' line of cookies and gingersnaps in the 1990s, driving low-fat and fat-free sales increases of more than 170 percent in 1994.
• In December 2008, Lance won the bankruptcy auction for Archway Cookies and reopened the plant in Ashland, Ohio.

History

Harold and Ruth Swanson began baking soft oatmeal cookies and doughnuts in their home's garage in Battle Creek in 1936. By the late 1940s, they had discontinued baking doughnuts to focus on cookies, and by 1949 they had 15 different varieties. In the 1950s they licensed their cookie recipes and began selling baking franchises in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Canada. The Swansons changed their company name in 1954 to avoid trademark confusion with C.A. Swanson and Sons, which had just begun the national roll-out of their frozen meal line. Archway was chosen for the company's new name, taking its name from the arch motif featured as a part of the original Swanson cookie packaging. Licensing agreements continued to grow, with 33 bakeries packaging and marketing Archway cookies, usually within their own states. Archway's flagship varieties were Oatmeal, Date-Filled Oatmeal, Frosty Lemon, Molasses and Pecan Ice Box, with Oatmeal varieties accounting for 30 percent of product sales. The company emphasized its homemade and fresh approach to baking cookies, and often used the term 'Archway Homestyle Cookies'. Most varieties were packaged in two stacks of six large cookies and wrapped in clear cellophane with a freshness code printed on the front label. Multiple varieties, such as Ruth's Golden Oatmeal, were 'state fair winning' recipes, selected from entries to company-sponsored baking competitions. Archway's product line quickly expanded to several dozen varieties, including Peanut Jumble, Rocky Road, Mississippi Mud Cake, Fudge Nut Bar, German Chocolate, Black Walnut Ice Box, Date Nut Bar, Iced Spice, New Orleans Cake, Pineapple Filled, Sour Cream, Soft Sugar, and Cookie Jar Hermit. In 1962, Archway was sold to bakery employee (and Swanson son-in-law) George Markham, who bought back several of the franchises over the next two years, rolling the production into two corporate cookie-manufacturing plants in Ohio and Iowa. This marked the beginning of the development of Archway Cookies as a cohesive national brand as well as a period of rapid growth for the company.