Crumbl Cookies is a business that grew so fast, it leaves people wondering what it did to achieve such explosive success.
Originally founded in 2017 in Utah by Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan with the intention of creating the world’s best chocolate chip cookie, today Crumbl sells one million desserts a day and has 1,071 locations nationwide.
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Crumbl attributes a lot of its success to both a robust social media presence and its formula of limited weekly drops of new flavors, which one founder says is an idea they got from another industry.
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“In the fashion industry, they really came up with the idea of these drops,” McGowan said in a CNBC interview, “and it’s an idea we use in our business. It creates that hype, excitement. And it also creates scarcity, because you can only have that cookie for that week.”
Crumbl also started doing celebrity and film collaborations in December 2023, starting with a partnership to commemorate the launch of the “Willy Wonka” film with its Wonka’s Wildly Wonderful Red Velvety Cookie.
It teamed up with singer Olivia Rodrigo next to promote her album “Guts.” This was excellent timing for the brand, as Rodrigo’s popularity was at an all-time high.
Now Crumbl has another celebrity collaboration on the way, and it’s safe to say fans of the brand are probably going to love it.
Crumbl describes its new celebrity collab cookie as “mystical” and “magical.”
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Crumbl partners with a viral sensation
On June 19, Crumbl shared via its Instagram account that it would drop a new cookie next week in partnership with Benson Boone, the pop-rock sensation and “Beautiful Things” singer who just released the new album “American Heart.”
The company describes its Moonbeam Ice Cream Cookie, which will be on sale at Crumbl stores only from June 23-28, as “a mystical, magical chilled chocolate cookie packed with cookies and cream pieces, crowned with vibrant moonbeam ice cream-inspired lemon, berry, and marshmallow toppings, finished with a sweet white drizzle and a final sprinkle of cookies and cream.”
Comments on the complicated-sounding new treat were mixed, with some fans thrilled and eager to try it, and others not so much.
“I’m gonna backflip in the store when I get my paws on this,” Instagram user eggtyler said.
“I’M DEFINITELY GETTING THIS! Love Benson Boone! Seeing him in September!” Instagram user tfnice18 said.
However, some Crumbl employees seemed less than enthused about the new collaboration.
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“Great. No one asked for another celebrity partnership, especially not the employees,” said Instagram user sammy_slocum.
Several commenters also asked for Crumbl’s take on another viral food sensation that’s been sweeping TikTok lately.
“Give us a release date for the Dubai chocolate cheesecake and the Dubai chocolate brownie,” Instagram user itstheavarose said.
Is Crumbl still popular?
While Crumbl’s viral popularity has softened a bit since it first exploded a few years back, the brand still has plenty of pull.
The privately owned company has more than 10 million followers on TikTok alone, and fans still regularly flock to its stores to try out new flavors or search online for the weekly menu.
In a Reddit thread hosted by a franchise owner who offered to answer questions about what it’s like to run a Crumbl, Reddit user FromCustomertoFP revealed how much it cost to invest.
“It depends on many factors, but it is between $500K to $1M,” the user wrote. “Equipment is the biggest chunk of the initial investment. Crumbl is not a cheap franchise to get into.”
While the franchise owner did not answer when asked if the investment was profitable, they did share some thoughts on Crumbl’s growth.
“Let’s say a Crumbl franchise is a good investment if 1. You can afford it, and 2. You put it in a good location. The last point sounds easy, but it’s not. In my opinion Crumbl expanded too much and in some areas allowed stores to be too close, and that is hurting some owners. I think Crumbl stores should be no less than 45 mins. apart from each other,” they wrote.
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