"Every Little Thing Matters"
Traci Hozie-Alderson, accidental cookie queen and co-founder of the Brown Butter Cookie Company, shares some sweet business advice
In partnership with Ghirardelli
Traci Hozie-Alderson never set out to own a cookie business, but the Brown Butter Cookie Company, which she launched in 2008 with her sister Christa, is on track to do $4 million in sales this year. Their success is the result of trial and error, trusting their gut, and the belief that “every little thing matters,” as the detail-obsessed Traci explained.
I discovered the Brown Butter Cookie Company at our recent Jubilee L.A. conference when I walked by the Ghirardelli installation in pursuit of a missing guest speaker. The plate of cookies on the counter called to me, so I snatched one and took a bite. The luscious little square was a riff on a classic shortbread cookie—but made with Ghirardelli chocolate chips and cocoa, with a hint of coffee and the perfect amount of salt. It was buttery, crumbly, and delicious. This was no mere cookie; this was an Espresso Chip Brown Butter Sea Salt Shortbread Cookie, from the Brown Butter Cookie Company, the cult California bakery.
The Espresso Chip variety is one of eight shortbread flavors BBCC has on offer in its three Central Coast stores (you can visit them in Cayucos, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo) and online at brownbuttercookies.com. In addition to their Made with Ghirardelli® Shortbread Cookie Trio, they also offer six classic cookie variations, including Snickerdoodle, Lemon Sugar, and Oatmeal Raisin.
Traci, the accidental cookie queen, worked in the beauty industry at brands like Shiseido, Calvin Klein, and Guìnot, where she learned about luxury products, consumer marketing, and attention to detail. She eventually moved to the Central Coast to be closer to family, and she and Christa opened a specialty food shop, or deli, as they called it. They were like a West Coast version of Ina Garten and her Barefoot Contessa gourmet grocery: zero experience, but great taste buds and lots of determination.
One day, out of the blue, Christa suggested they do something different: “Let’s focus on our cookies,” she said to her sister. Traci was shocked. They had put so much work into the deli and this pivot was a major rethinking of their business. But at the end of the day, they weren’t making any money and they had borrowed money from family members that would eventually have to be repaid. They had nothing to lose. Christa was persuasive, and in time, it was clear her suggestion was the perfect path forward.
Traci and I connected over Zoom and she was happy to share some of the hard-earned best practices and business philosophies she and her sister have picked up along the way.
Pay attention to cost of goods
“At the deli, we had amazing sandwiches, paninis, everything made from scratch, and everybody loved our products. But our pricing structure was all wrong. We were giving away the farm.” Know your COGs, as they’re called.
Consistency is key
Consistency is essential but hard to master, says Traci, who likens herself to a detective in her own stores. “‘How are things merchandised? How can I bridge the product and the consumer? Are we communicating clearly?’ I love thinking about all of that. Every little thing matters.”
The right collabs are gold
“If you find a brand you align with, it’s magical. A collaboration can introduce you to an entirely new audience, and one that’s larger.” Case in point: the Brown Butter Cookie Company Made with Ghirardelli® partnership, which features three flavors of the signature shortbread—Chocolate Chip, Dark Cocoa Chocolate Chip, and the aforementioned Espresso Chip. The three Ghirardelli flavors have been so popular they represent 20 percent of BBCC’s sales today.
In addition to the sales bump, the partnership has helped Traci and team boost their chocolate know-how and garner valuable feedback about their product. “When we started working together, they said, ‘We have some notes for you. We hope you don’t mind.’ I was like, ‘Mind?’ I should be paying you for this information.’”
Think big
You can walk in and buy one cookie at the Brown Butter Cookie Company bakeries, but the experience has been designed around buying a customized bag filled with different flavors of their classic-style cookies. “If you were to go into a traditional bakery, there are jars where you pull out one cookie,” explains Traci. “What we have is very different. We have racks of cookies. We assume our customers want to customize their bags of cookies instead of assuming they want a single cookie.”
Fortune favors the prepared
Traci’s next goal is national expansion, but she’s not looking to open more stores. Instead, she wants to find key wholesale partners and secure space in grocery stores and coffee shop chains. She’s working with a contract manufacturer so the company is ready when—not if—the orders come in. “It’s so scary because you have to hand over your recipes. We can handle the next level of scaling, but when we get a huge client, we’re going to need help.”
Work culture matters
“Jenna (Hartzell, BBCC’s creative director) once said to me, ‘I think you build company culture and you happen to sell cookies,’’’ recalls Traci. “I love building teams. We have extremely low turnover for a repetitive business, so we have a 5-year club and a 10-year club. We even have three people who have been with us for more than 15 years. It’s about giving people opportunity and building a beautiful product, but also having it feel right when you walk in. That magic takes constant love and attention. That’s probably the reason I wouldn’t do a franchise.”
Trust your gut
“I always listen to my intuition.”
Want to try Brown Butter Cookie Company for yourself? Enjoy 20% off your online order with code CHERRY20 at brownbuttercookies.com
Interested in exploring all the premium products Ghirardelli has to offer for professionals? Find more information here and click here to contact the Ghirardelli Professional Products team.