Montana company takes its all-natural recipe nationwide

Tom Lutey

Mar. 22, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- BOZEMAN -- Even in these tough times, Rich and Cathy Powell are making lots of dough.

Their secret? A little bit of butter, some brown sugar, eggs, chunky peanut butter, baking soda, chocolate chips, and sometimes raisins. That's the recipe that has propelled Montana Monster Munchies cookies into more than 450 stores in 40 states.

You can get the cookies on Alcatraz Island, in gift shops at the Grand Canyon, in zoos across the country, though sometimes they bear a private label. That's not bad, considering that just four years ago the cookies were only available in Montana, mostly at gas stations, and in Yellowstone National Park.

Previously known as Montana Monster Cookies, the tea-saucer-sized snacks traditionally sold in two-packs have been around more than 25 years. The Powells are the fourth owners of the cookie company, now located west of Bozeman. What they've done differently than previous owners is tap the food trend that is natural cookies. "One of our better buyers said 'Here's why I like your cookies; it's a simple ingredient list. Mothers trust it, and kids love it. ' " Rich Powell said.

Snacks are big business in the United States, where consumers spent $5.2 billion on cookies and cookie bars in 2008. But market growth has also been relatively flat since 2003, according to consumer and product analyst Mintel. Factor in inflation and the Chicago-based research group says the cookie market overall could be crumbling at the rate of 13 percent from now through 2013.

But there is sweet spot in the cookie economy and that's the premium, healthy and cookie bar segment, which is the niche of Montana Monster Munchies. Healthy cookies, with short lists of identifiable ingredients, are often marketed as kosher, or being free of, or reduced in trans fats. They can also be gluten-free, that is, free of flour from wheat, barley or rye.

Not all cookies cut it in the healthy snack niche. Health-minded consumers will put principles aside and go with flavor over fitness, reported Mintel. But the healthy cookie market overall grew 26 percent between 2003 and 2005. It's predicted the market will continue growing at 5 percent a year as long as consumers keep adding healthy options to their shopping carts. The 2009 forecast calls for $577 million in healthy cookie sales in the United States, compared to $425 million in sales six years ago.

"Manufacturers must walk the fine line between healthfulness and indulgence that has become a critical component of success in the category," according to Mintel. Roughly 44 percent of the adult shoppers buy what they like regardless of what its health benefits are. Half the people Mintel surveyed said healthy cookies taste worse than unhealthy ones.

Montana Monster Munchies' own market research shows its best customers are women in their mid-30s to mid-40s. This year, the cookie company is attempting to expand its market by putting out a certified-gluten-free product. Powell said the company's product was already on the path to gluten-free by virtue of containing no wheat flour. The cookies are made with oats, which naturally contain no gluten.

But oats that come in contact with gluten, either in a field with a few rogue heads of bearded wheat, or in a kitchen where wheat flour is used, can't be certified gluten-free. The Powells' operation had to be tested for gluten. Any amount greater than 10 parts per million, would have destroyed the company's gluten-free status.

"Their cookies are excellent. And they're safe," said Jean Powell, with the Montana Celiac Society.

No relation to the cookie Powells, Jean Powell describes celiac disease as intolerance to gluten, which, untreated, can result in permanent intestinal damage and severe malnutrition. She's been promoting the cookies in her quarterly newsletter.

The cookie's gluten-free certification is also stirring interest in the U.S. food world. UNFI, the largest publicly traded wholesale food distributor in the United States, already distributes Montana Monster Munchies' gluten-free cookie. UNFI is now eyeing the gluten-free oats used by the Powells. The couple are marketing the oats, grown in Gallatin County, under their emerging gluten-free product line, Legacy Valley.

If Legacy Valley takes off like the Powells' cookie business has, the beneficiaries will be the Gallatin Valley farmers planting PrOatina, the gluten-free oat product. If the cookie's recent success is any indicator, Legacy Valley stands a chance in the national health food market.

The cookie's appeal has always been its simplicity, no matter how it was marketed. Its original creator, Gloria Thiede, marketed the cookie with her brother John in 1981 after watching the success of home-style cookies by Famous Amos and Debbie Fields.

Gloria Thiede lives in Paradise Valley south of Livingston. She and John Thiede got the local Pine Creek Store in the Paradise Valley to sell the cookies out of a gallon jar on its sales counter. The only real portion consideration was making sure the cookies were small enough to pass through the jar's mouth.

"I would bake and John would deliver," Gloria Thiede said. "In the winter of '82, or January of '83 we went to West Yellowstone and approached Hamilton Stores, the concessionaire in the park, and we got the go ahead to supply them. At that point, when we realized what the volume was I turned it over to John."

John Thiede developed the Montana market and supplied the cookies to Yellowstone Park. He then sold the business to Lincoln-based Hi-Country Snack Foods, best known for its beef jerky. Hi-County then sold the cookie company to Hal Berg, who owned the Bozeman-based Rocky Mountain Roasting Co., a whole-bean coffee business.

The Powells bought the cookie business and pitched the product not only nationally but differently. They moved the cookies onto grocery store shelves, where most U.S. consumers shop for cookies. They're also shrinking the size of the cookies and marketing them in 18 packs. The Monsters still come monster-sized, but the national cookie trend is for 100-calorie portion sizes.

The recipe hasn't changed since Gloria Thiede was cooking them in her Paradise Valley kitchen.

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