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How the Stroopwafel Became the Most Unexpected Product to Go Viral
Why everyone — from NBA players to tech employees — is suddenly eating this classic Dutch cookie
They’re on airplanes, on NBA courts, in coffee shops, and in tech startup kitchenettes. Say hallo to the stroopwafel, a caramel-filled wafer cookie that’s long been a staple of the Netherlands. (Its name is Dutch for syrup waffle.) So how did a Dutch treat that dates back to the 1700s suddenly become one of the hottest snack foods in the U.S.?
While stroopwafels are most directly associated with the Netherlands, Brooklyn played a major role in the snack’s growth trajectory over the past decade. It started with The Good Batch, founded by Anna Gordon in 2010. Gordon began selling her hand-pressed stroopwafels at the Brooklyn Flea after moving to New York. Her then-boyfriend (now husband) Steve Hartong has Dutch roots and missed the cookie. In 2014, they opened a brick-and-mortar bakery in Brooklyn.
Around that time, Rip Pruisken founded Brooklyn-based company Rip Van Wafels. Pruisken had grown up eating stroopwafels in the Netherlands and started the business with his college friend Marco De Leon while the two were Brown University undergraduates in 2011. Very early, Pruisken got the idea to sell to snack-crazed tech…
