RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Baking during the pandemic has led to record sales for a maker of custom sprinkle mixes.
Drive-by parties and scaleddown celebrations in the COVID era still deserve cake, and Houston-based Sprinkle Pop has found a growing niche in helping bakers across the country make them beautiful.
The company makes designer sprinkle mixes that come already packaged in assortments such as Vintage Rose Gold, the top selling mix of rose gold, white and blush sprinkles, but can be customized to match a party’s theme.
“Cake is such an essential part in American culture to parties,” CEO Liz Butts said. “Even if you’re just doing a family gathering, people are still making cakes.”
The company, which sells on its website and Amazon, is selling sprinkles faster than it can produce them at its 2,800-squarefoot warehouse near NRG Park. In April, it will relocate to an 8,000-square-foot facility in the Point West Business Center, an industrial park near Westchase owned by Partners Capital. NAI Partners’ Lesley Rice and Andy Parrish represented the landlord in the lease.
Rather than making the sprinkles from scratch, Sprinkle Pop orders them directly from manufacturers to streamline the production process.
The new location will have an expanded production area, where sprinkles purchased from manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Greece are dyed on site, if needed, and then assembled to order and packaged for shipment. The facility will have a warehouse for shipping and receiving and a test
kitchen where Butts can make treats to be photographed for marketing.
“We buy a large amount of white sprinkles in different shapes and sizes and dye those in-house,” Butts said. “We’re creating mixes out of them.
We’re not starting from raw sugar and shortening.”
The combinations are endless. Dozens of different mixes suit occasions such as Valentine’s Day, bridal showers, football games, princess-themed parties and gender reveals. Among the
seasonal offerings, Pot of Gold has rainbow sprinkles, golden chocolate nuggets and royal icing rainbows for St. Patrick’s Day.
Bakers can create a custom mix with different textures by choosing from more than 20 colors of jimmies, nonpareils, sugar crystals, Sixlets and candy pearls. They can add confetti stars or metallics for a pop.
Butts said that since founding the company in 2017, her sales have tripled each year and are projected to increase five- or six-fold this year. The pandemic is driving the increase, which has generated funds for advertising and hiring. Sprinkle Pop has grown to 27 employees from five employees a year ago.
“It was positive for us, because everyone turned to baking because they were home,” Butts said. “We just tried to capitalize on that trend.”
Butts, who began decorating cakes as a hobby at age 15, started the company on the side while working in corporate finance. Most of her customers sell cakes as a side business or make party cakes for friends and family. She got the idea when she had a hard time finding sprinkles and figured others did too.
Shipping was severely disrupted at the holidays because of the surge in online shopping. Many packages took 30 days to arrive compared with the normal three or four days, Butts said.
The sprinkles come in 2ounce, 4-ounce and 8-ounce bottles. Customers typically spend about $24, which buys two 4-ounce bottles, Butts said. A 4-ounce bottle is enough to decorate 24 to 36 cupcakes. Custom mixes are more. The sprinkles come in different shapes and sizes.
“You don’t really have to have any skill,” Butts said. “These are designed to make your baked goods beautiful on your own.”