Crumbl Cookies has been in business only six years, but since its founding in 2017, the R&D team has developed 800 cookie recipes. Of those 800, just about 250 are in circulation, rotating onto the menu along with some newly created flavors every week.
“We don’t put anything out that we do not love,” said Amy Eldredge, VP of Menu for the 900-unit cookie chain based in Salt Lake City. “But there are times when some are not as well received. We’ll give that cookie a couple of tries before we send it to the graveyard.”
The “graveyard” is where cookies go to die when customers give them a thumbs down. Eldredge fondly remembers the bubble gum cookie which “we thought was good but the public didn’t,” she said. “We now have a more robust testing program, with 63 test locations across the country.”
Only six flavors are featured weekly on Crumbl’s rotating menu, including the ever-present chocolate chip. What goes into getting those other five into the lineup?
Inside the cookie kitchen
“Most of our cookies are inspired by classic desserts, childhood favorites or nostalgia,” said Eldredge. “The weekly rotation depends on several factors, ranging from seasonality to our highest sellers.”
The classic pink sugar cookie is a good example. It’s a customer favorite and rotates in several times a year, she said. The chocolate chip cookie is in such demand, that it’s now permanent, alternately baked with either semisweet or milk chocolate chips.
The chocolate chip cookie earned a permanent spot on the weekly rotating menu.
Other big sellers are what Eldredge calls “partnership cookies”—those that use branded candies or are house-made versions of branded cookies, like Oreos. And seasonal cookies such as pumpkin in fall and key lime in summer win over cookie buyers. “In November, we do fun pie cookies to tie into Thanksgiving,” Eldredge said.
The final weekly rotation always includes a good mix of frosted and unfrosted cookies, chilled, room temperature and warm varieties and usually, a new flavor. “We look at what the missing link is that week,” she said.
Perfecting the process
The culinary team is comprised of 21 people, divided into recipe development, testing, recipe management and regulatory.
All the cookies are made from scratch at each location, starting with the basic raw materials for the dough: butter, flour and sugar. “These ingredients are very specific in composition and there’s very little variation across the country among vendors we use,” said Eldredge. The production is done in the back of the house, but the mixers are up front.
The dough is mixed and baked in front of customers at each Crumbl location.
“We want customers to see the preparation,” she said. And there are strict rules around freshness, so cookies are constantly being mixed and baked. Crumbl also specs certain equipment, including cookie scoops for measuring the dough and cookie sheets for uniform baking.
Another leg of the company is the robust tech team, she added. They built out a recipe matrix so all systems are in place to change the cookie rotation weekly and assure consistency. That integrated technology, along with the unique pink packaging, are brand differentiators, said Eldredge.
The iconic pink box is a differentiator in the cookie concept space.
Competition and customer feedback
Crumbl ranked 120 in the 2023 Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, notching up sales of $384 million in 2022—a 123% increase year over year. Competitors including Insomnia Cookies, Chip City and Great American Cookies are heating up the category, but haven’t come close to Crumbl in terms of fast growth, unit count or sales.
But the fate of a Crumbl cookie flavor does not depend on sales alone; customer feedback is very important too, said Eldredge. The company pays close attention to social media and the tech team developed an interactive app with a recently launched “cookie journal.” This allows fans to rate the cookies each week, having some say in what goes and what stays.
“But a new flavor will rotate in a few times to give it enough chance to win over customers,” said Eldredge. “And the R&D team works on a number of iterations to constantly make it better.”
The Everything Bagel Cookie is a case in point. The team worked on it for close to a year to keep revising the recipe, eventually landing on a version they really liked.
“It was our first attempt at a savory cookie, and sometimes the more nuanced flavors can be hit or miss,” said Eldredge. “But we’re really focusing on innovation … putting out things that have never been seen before.”
As far as “what’s next” on the menu, she’s really not saying, but hinted that Crumbl may be working on something other than cookies.