Mondelēz Bets on Cleaner Label With a Majority Stake in Undercover Snacks

Mondelēz has agreed to buy a majority stake in clean label snack brand Undercover Snacks, a deal it disclosed Oct. 29. It may be the most promising news from big food all year.

TLDR

• Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal is expected to close by early 2027.
• Undercover went from about 10,000 locations in 2021 to more than 25,000, including Whole Foods nationwide.
• Founder and CEO Diana Levy is staying on.
• Mondelēz CEO Dirk Van de Put told analysts the portfolio needs to evolve toward healthier snacks.

The Brand

Neither company disclosed financial terms, but Undercover has climbed fast. It went from about 10,000 locations in 2021 to more than 25,000, including Whole Foods nationwide, and United Airlines has handed out more than 175 million units since 2023. That growth traces back to founder and CEO Diana Levy, who turned a gluten-free recipe made for her family into a national brand.

Why Levy Staying On Matters

The announcement that Levy will stay on as CEO is the tell. It suggests Undercover will get a clear runway and room to breathe, with the scale and distribution of a global powerhouse behind it. That could let the brand grow without changing its recipes, the very thing that worried fans after other recent big food acquisitions.

The Strategy

It’s also a clear strategy for Mondelēz. CEO Dirk Van de Put told analysts the portfolio needs to evolve toward healthier snacks, and called this deal one step in that direction. The labels show why. Undercover’s milk chocolate crisps list two components, milk chocolate and quinoa, and its Wicked Vanilla Drizzle crisp lists vegetable juice color, spirulina extract and turmeric extract. Limited-edition Orange Creme Oreos list high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor and Yellow 5 and 6 lakes. Undercover lets Mondelēz lean into cleaner label now while it reworks its legacy lines, including a full Oreo relaunch planned for 2027 with new formulas in some cases.

Why It Matters

It also puts Mondelēz in the race. Undercover joins Perfect Snacks, Tate’s Bake Shop and Hu Chocolate, brands in its North America Ventures unit. Mars began selling versions of M&M’s, Skittles and Starburst without synthetic dyes on Amazon in August, and Hershey paid about $769 million upfront last year for organic snack maker LesserEvil. In sweets and snacks, the race to the top is on.

Sources: Mondelēz Q3 2026 earnings release; Q3 2026 earnings call transcript; Undercover Snacks announcement; Undercover Snacks, 2024; Undercover Snacks, 2021; Food Dive; Target; Stop & Shop; Oreo; Today; Daily Dot; ABC News; Hershey 10-Q; FDA tracker.