Watch CBS News

Marylanders Rejoice As Berger Cookie Shortage Ends

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Hurricane Irene may have knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of Marylanders, but the storm also put a stop to the state's favorite sugar fix.

Alex DeMetrick reports on how Irene triggered a Berger cookie shortage.

Berger Cookies have been pretty much made the same way since 1835. Through wars, depressions, and a great fire, they've been dipped and shipped. But a leaky window and Hurricane Irene, brought production to a standstill.

"The water, I guess, came in the window and all over the boxes," said Charles DeBaufre, owner of the Berger Cookie Bakery.

Those boxes are the boxes Berger Cookies are packed in. It took two weeks to get more in, and the cookies rolling out to 600 stores.

"The phone didn't stop ringing," DeBaufre said. "We've got four lines and they were all lit."

It was a long two weeks for those who crave them.

"The chocolate on top and the soft cookie on the bottom," said Rebecca Lee, Berger Cookie fan. "I've learned that once they get hard, you can put them in the microwave. They're delicious."

And a long two weeks for those who sell them.

"Extremely popular," explains Mark Friedman at Eddie's Market. "So popular that it is the No. 1 selling item at this store."

And they even arrived in time for Baltimore actor Josh Charles' birthday.

Berger Cookies are now reaching 98 percent of the stores that sell them. The remaining two percent won't have long to wait.

"We've got a truck going out tomorrow because we ran short on product, and he's going to go out tomorrow," DeBaufre said.

Hopefully it will end Maryland's chocolate withdrawal.

The Berger Cookie Bakery turns out an average of 20,000 cookies a day, and even more during the holidays.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.