5 questions for Crumby Cookie Dough Company
Crumby Cookie Dough Company
Owners: Sara McMurphy and Jennifer Appleby Vines
Address: Kitchener
Phone: 226-220-0011
Web: thecrumbycookiedoughco.com
Email: thecrumbycookiedoughco@gmail.com
Business: Makes and sells edible cookie dough
Opening date: April 2018
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Q. How did you get into this business?
A. Sara and I have been friends for a long time. One night about a year ago Sara was at my house, opened the refrigerator and found a cookie dough tube with a spoon sticking out of it. That led to a bunch of conversations over the next couple of days as well as some research and, before you know it, the business was underway.
Q. What’s the big deal with raw cookie dough?
A. There are two things you are really not supposed to eat that are in raw cookie dough — the raw eggs and the raw flour. Does everyone sneak a lick off the spoon anyway? Of course, they do because raw cookie dough is delicious. We use heat-treated eggs and heattreated flour to remove the risk. Our dough is still bakeable, which was very important to us.
Q. How do you develop flavours?
A. Initially, it was just about having a good solid lineup of five or six doughs to cover a spectrum that we were proud of. Lots and lots of testing with different butters and different ingredients. Now sometimes we will just be struck by inspiration to develop a new dough or we’ll do something seasonal.
Q. What’s the sales pitch you use to convince retailers to carry your cookie dough?
A. It honestly hasn’t taken too much convincing yet. Most retailers see it as something unique that will drive business. However, what makes us different is not only our fun and quirky brand, but the fact that we use good wholesome ingredients, and as many local ingredients as we can.
Q. How do the two of you divide up responsibility for the business?
A. Most of it has fallen along natural lines. We complement each other very well. Sara is a chef by training, so tends to take over things like food inventory and food ordering, whereas I’m more of an organizer so I’m usually the one making the to-do list and figuring out what comes next. If there’s something that neither one of us wants to do all that much, the person who hates it the least will generally take it on.
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