How Crumbl Cookies Became A Household Name

The year was 2017, and Millennial pink was everywhere — from cell phones and home decor to high fashion and Tumblr. The muted hue had an unbreakable grip on a generation and wasn't letting go. Cut to Logan, Utah, where the color was about to claim another brand as its own, as cousins Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley opened the very first Crumbl Cookies store. Even now, after Millennial pink's popularity has waned, Crumbl's pastel pink boxes are as Instagrammable as ever, and the creative flavors are still spreading their sweetness.

But an eye-catching container alone doesn't really explain the cookie company's rise. In 2023, it was the fastest-growing dessert shop chain in the U.S. (according to The New York Times), made $1 billion in system sales in 2023, and in February 2024, added the 1,000th location to its franchise roster. It turns out that the secret to cookie success was thanks, in large part, to social media. But that's getting ahead of things — the story has to start at the beginning.

What many people don't know about Crumbl is that neither CEO Jason McGowan nor COO Sawyer Hemsley had any professional baking experience when they decided to open the bakery. When they came across the building that would become their first store, they really didn't have much of anything beyond the idea of a bakery sparked by a childhood love. Then they got the space and the equipment — and finally, they turned to the recipe. Although they're now known for bold and inventive flavors, the cousins' cookie experimentation began in the simplest way: Perfecting the chocolate chip cookie. It would take time, lots of community feedback, and a great deal of squandered dough before they would arrive at a cookie they were proud to sell.

It was also experimentation that led to the company's decision to stick to a weekly rotating menu of four cookies; when it first opened, the menu was much larger, and McGowan and Hemsley found it difficult to keep pace with the popularity. After implementing the limited selection in December 2018 and opening a second location that focused more on delivery, it was time again to grow. So, the franchises began. Then, the franchises exploded. Within five years of business, Crumbl boasted more than 800 bakeries across all 50 states and Canada.

The growth is undeniable, and the source of the enormous success isn't hard to see — social media was Crumbl's catalyst. The cookies are showcased in behind-the-scenes baking videos and appealingly minimalist photographs, but it's the limited selection that really sealed the deal. The frequently changing Crumbl cookie flavors allow the company to share reveals and cookie drops on its channels and encourage customers to reshare new flavors online regularly. The company has launched celebrity partnerships, like a giveaway with Kylie Jenner (who has appeared more than once on the TikTok account), but it hasn't had to lean hard into influencer advertising. These personalities — and their followers — have often just wanted to organically share the aesthetically pleasing baked goods. It's a viral cookie experience that's beautifully and very intentionally packaged for social media sharing.

These days, the company has more than eight million followers on TikTok and more than five million followers on Instagram. And its mostly unwavering popularity has allowed it to weather criticism and scandal. By and large, the cookie criticism often boils down to quality, with naysayers insisting that the cookies are made to look good rather than taste good. The company has also been at the center of lawsuits and legal infractions, like widely publicized instances of franchise owners violating child labor regulations, but the popularity seems to surmount the difficulties. Crumbl is still seeing sweet success.