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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to. You’ve heard the expression, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.” But for Clearfield-based Lofthouse Foods, the cookie has never crumbled. That’s because Lofthouse has built a multi-million dollar business on making the softest, chewiest cookies sold in stores, and they’ve done so in just seven years.
It began in 1994. David Stone started it with just $2,000 and less than 500 square feet of space to work in. David named the company after his mother’s maiden name of Lofthouse. With very few resources, everything had to be done by hand, including scooping the dough on to cookie sheets for baking. It was work that continued ‘round the clock. Baking was done at night to allow for deliveries during the day.
And to entice customers, David distributed free baskets of cookies to convenience stores along the Wasatch Front with the promise to return and take orders or go away if customers weren’t satisfied. Well, needless to say, they were satisfied. After the first year, the company had already made a profit and outgrown its facility. They now have two—one in Ogden; the other in Clearfield.
In the next couple of years, the company worked on perfecting its recipe. Though the cookies were already a hit, the folks at Lofthouse wanted them to be the closest thing to homemade that customers could buy. That meant, making the cookies soft and chewy like they had just cooled after baking in the oven.
After a few more years of profitable sales, the company bought equipment to automate frosting and wrapping the cookies. They also started exploring in-store bakery opportunities. Distributors began to sell the product and a salesperson was hired in 1998. Lofthouse also received an Orthodox Union kosher agreement, which meant it could sell kosher product to an even broader market.
With its cookies perfected to those of homemade quality, a proven sales strategy and a unique kosher certification, Lofthouse Foods has been able to sell its product in 49 states and generate over $40 million in sales. Crumbling cookies? I think not.
For Zions Bank, I’m Fred Ball. I’m speaking on business.
