San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Bake-and-deliver Tiff ’s Treat now a $500 million business
Tiff ’s Treats is now a $500 million business, thanks to a new multimillion-dollar investment.
The Austin-based company known for its deliveries of warm cookies announced Nov. 16 that it has raised $30 million from undisclosed investors. Previous financial backers include jewelry designer Kendra Scott, former NBA star Dirk Nowitzki, actress Brooklyn Decker and tennis star Andy Roddick.
Tiff ’s Treats was founded in 1999 by Leon and Tiffany Chen while they were students at the University of Texas. In addition to baked-to-order cookies, the company offers brownies and other desserts along with bottled beverages and Blue Bell ice cream.
The company has about 70 retail distribution locations throughout the southern United States.
The company has now raised just over $100 million and has 1,700 employees nationwide, including 400 in Austin, co-founder Leon Chen said.
“We have been on a hiring spree of late, having grown our headquarters team by 50 percent since the start of the pandemic and hiring hundreds of new store staff since the pandemic began,” Leon Chen told the American-Statesman. “We expect to grow our workforce by another 30 percent over the next year, as a best guess.”
The company said it will use the new funding to accelerate national expansion and invest in its technology platform.
“We continue to invest in our direct-to-consumer, ondemand gifting and delivery platform from the ground up,” Leon Chen said. “With our technology, we manage the entire delivery experience, utilizing our own delivery drivers and highly committed inhouse customer service team.”
The Chens also have written a book, “It’s Not Just Cookies: Stories and Recipes from the Tiff ’s Treats Kitchen,” published by Harper Horizon. Scheduled for release early next year, the book has reached No.1 in preorder sales in Amazon’s cookie baking category.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic last year, Tiff ’s Treats said it committed more than $1 million to its employees in the form of bonuses, pay raises and a new paid time off benefit for all hourly employees.
“The coronavirus pandemic has created many challenges for us, but because of our focus on delivery, we were able to continue serving customers who increasingly were looking for new ways to connect with each other,” Tiffany Chen said in July 2020, when the company announced a $15 million investment.
“We saw, and continue to see, many orders celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and other occasions where celebrations have been limited,” Tiffany Chen said. “And on top of that, we are finding that customers are in need of comfort both for themselves and to send to others.”