A cookie brand is seeking a new production partner after a last-minute cancellation by its manufacturer.
The Cookie Dealer was just weeks away from a major launch into Aldi when its manufacturer emailed to say it could no longer support the business.
“On the face of it, this was a catastrophe,” co-founder David Sawyer told British Baker, but he added that Aldi had been very supportive after receiving the news
“You couldn’t ask for a better retail partner.” he said. “They were obviously disappointed, but they said find a reliable production partner and get everything in place and then we’ll go again.”
The Cookie Dealer was launched in 2020 by David and his wife Agate with the idea of making “the best cookies on the market with customer service to match”. Returning to the UK from overseas during the pandemic, they decided to take the plunge and used the money from selling their house to launch the business.
David and his father converted an old stable block at David’s parent’s home into a cookie bakery, while Agate - whose Latvian family are bakers – developed recipes and branding.
Originally sold online only, the business quickly took off and grew with the couple taking on qualified bakers and extending the bakery in Melton Mowbray. As well as selling online, the business now supplies wholesale and secured a successful rollout into Aldi.
“We showed them a range of cookies and they loved what we had done and asked for a few tweaks,” said David. “It took us about a week, and we went back to see the team and they said we had managed to do what it takes a big company three years to do.”
“They came back to us a few weeks later with an order that for one day was more cookies than we sell in a year.”
Lacking the capacity to fulfil such an order themselves, The Cookie Dealer worked with a production partner and the cookies were a hit when they launched into Aldi.
“We sold a colossal amount of cookies – basically a complete sell-out nationwide in seven days nationwide.”
A further deal was made with Aldi to launch new flavours but, just weeks before the planned roll-out, David received an email from the production partner stating they were sorry but can no longer support the launch.
The Cookie Dealer, which has been shortlisted in the Online Bakery Business of the Year category of the 2026 Baking Industry Awards, is now looking for a manufacturer it can work with and grow alongside. It is hoping to find a UK or European production partner that can make the quantities of premium, filled cookies required to supply Aldi.
David Sawyer would be interested in hearing from potential production partners at hello@thecookiedealer.com.
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