While it may seem as if Crumbl’s popularity roared out of nowhere right after the pandemic, there’s a bit more to the story.
Back in 2017, cousins and founders Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan set out on a quest to create the perfect chocolate chip cookie, relying on A/B testing methods and streetside taste tests to nail the flavor they were looking for.
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They opened their first store in Logan, Utah, using $68,000 of McGowan’s personal savings as seed capital. They were only able to afford to launch the menu with a single cookie, so they ran a Twitter poll asking people what they wanted, and the Milk Chocolate Cookie was the winner.
In 2018 the iconic pink box launched, and Crumbl caught fire on social media because of it. By August 2020, Crumbl had leaned into franchising and had 100 locations across multiple states.
Related: Crumbl announces its newest celebrity collaboration cookie
While some of the explosive hype has died down today, Crumbl continues to run a successful business. After a sales dip in 2023, the company rebounded in 2024, with 858 locations reporting average sales of $1.35 million.
Like any other company, Crumbl must continue to innovate in order to sustain the enormous amount of success it’s gained.
And to do that, now it plans to move beyond the cookie.
Crumbl’s signature pink box.
Image source: TheStreet
Crumbl menu expansion in the making
Typically, a visit to a Crumbl involves extremely simple decision-making: all the store offers is cookies.
That will soon change, according to food blogger Markie Devo, who has a magical knack of sniffing out food industry trends and changes before anyone else.
Devo reports that Crumbl is testing a brand new menu item in Canada called Dirty Soda.
A total of 39 flavors are being tested, with trendy names like “Slay the Week,” “Delulu,” and “Pop Off.” These names riff on popular slang, meaning that Crumbl is probably hoping to appeal to Gen Z.
Related: Starbucks makes a move to battle slowing customer interest
Devo says these will hit the U.S. soon, but does not mention a launch date. TheStreet has reached out to Crumbl for confirmation.
The Dirty Soda trend originated on TikTok, using soda as a base and “dirtying” it by adding a syrup, cream, or fruit puree. Other fast-food chains such as Taco Bell have added their own take on Dirty Soda to their menus.
Mixed customer reactions to Crumbl addition
The new drinks were posted to the Crumbl subreddit on July 13 and quickly drummed up hundreds of comments.
Many were negative about the addition of the viral drinks.
“I dunno. This feels like a desperate move. Have no interest paying 4.50 or greater for a drink,” wrote user cloudy2t.
“My guess is that this will probably flop outside of utah. there’s no culture for it anywhere else – most people would pick a $6 coffee over a $6 soda,” user and Crumbl employee AquaofSpoPon said in the same thread.
However, a few voices opted for the opposite opinion.
“In MN we’ve had at least 3-4 different dirty soda chains pop up in the past 6 months. They all look busy. So who knows!” wrote user Fizziac.
“I’m not a big sweets person, but I enjoy soda. My wife loves Crumbl. I could see myself getting one of these when she gets her cookies. Probably not every time, but at least sometimes,” said user SwiftSurfer365.