Crumbl Cookies has taken the nation by storm as one of the most popular gourmet cookie delivery services. With over 600 locations across 47 states, Crumbl releases a weekly rotating menu of innovative cookie flavors and treats. However, with such a massive operation comes a lot of leftovers. So what exactly happens to all those leftover Crumbl cookies that don’t get sold?
How many leftover cookies does Crumbl have?
With millions of cookies baked fresh in stores every week, it’s impossible for Crumbl to sell every single one. While Crumbl does an excellent job forecasting weekly cookie demand to minimize waste, there are always extras.
Most Crumbl locations see between 5-10% of their weekly inventory go unsold. Averaged across all stores, this adds up to nearly 50,000 leftover cookies per week!
What causes so many leftovers?
There are a few key reasons why Crumbl is left with so many extra cookies each week:
- Imperfect demand forecasting – No model is 100% accurate
- Last minute ordering changes
- Weather impacts walk-in traffic
- Shipping delays lead to excess ingredients
While Crumbl is always working to improve forecasts, leftovers are an unfortunate inevitability of the business.
What does Crumbl do with the extras?
With so many leftover cookies each week, what exactly does Crumbl do with the extras? Here are the main avenues for leftover cookies:
Donations
Crumbl’s primary avenue for leftovers is donations. Each store partners with local charities, food banks, shelters, and other organizations to donate extras at the end of each week.
This allows Crumbl to minimize waste while giving back to communities across the country. Example donation partners include:
- Local food banks & soup kitchens
- Homeless shelters
- Women’s & children’s shelters
- Schools & colleges
- Senior living centers
- Boys & girls clubs
- First responders
Employee Take-Home
After donations, the next main avenue for leftovers is employees taking cookies home. Crumbl encourages its in-store teams to take home remaining cookies to enjoy.
This gives employees a tasty perk while further reducing waste. Employees often share extras with friends and family as well.
Discounts & Clearance
Some stores will also heavily discount or clearance out leftovers. Discounted day-old cookies are offered on platforms like DoorDash.
In-store, customers may find selected flavors marked down in a clearance bin. This allows thrifty customers to score Crumbl cookies at a bargain.
Waste
Of course with tens of thousands of cookies leftover weekly, a portion still ends up in the trash. But Crumbl works hard to minimize this.
Food safety policies dictate cookies can’t be donated or sold after 4 days. So extras older than that have no option but the landfill.
But thanks to Crumbl’s donations and other programs, waste makes up less than 15% of all leftovers.
How does Crumbl handle ingredients & packaging?
In addition to leftover baked cookies, Crumbl has to deal with unused ingredients and excess packaging each week. Here is how they handle these other leftovers:
Excess Ingredients
Each Crumbl location orders ingredients weekly based on predicted demand. When forecasts are off, some ingredients go unused.
For shelf-stable items like flour and sugar, extras simply go into inventory for the next week. But for perishable ingredients like eggs and milk, excess has to be dealt with quickly.
Perishable ingredients generally get donated along with baked cookies. So extras like milk and eggs often go to food banks. Unused frozen items get stored for future weeks.
Packaging
Crumbl uses pink boxes for in-store purchases and generic white boxes for nationwide shipments. Both box types, along with plastic liners and other disposable packaging, can pile up.
Boxes get broken down and recycled whenever possible. Plastic liners and other non-recyclable items get trashed, unfortunately.
Crumbl also composts any unused edible ingredients, coffee grounds, etc. the best they can to minimize what ends up in landfills.
Financial impact of leftovers
While Crumbl strives to minimize food waste, there’s no denying that leftovers impact profit margins. Here’s a look at the financial costs of excess inventory:
Lost Sales
The most obvious impact is lost revenue from cookies that could have been sold. With average revenue of $4 per cookie, those 50,000 weekly leftovers represent $200,000 in lost weekly sales or $10 million per year.
Ingredient Waste
Ingredients purchased for excess cookies also represent wasted money. An estimated 5-10% of ingredient spend is for cookies that ultimately go unsold.
Added Labor
Time spent handling donations, employee take-home, and disposals also adds labor costs. Employees spend an estimated 5 hours per store per week managing leftovers.
Total Estimate
Factoring in all effects, experts estimate Crumbl loses $15-20 million annually from leftovers. While not ideal, this loss has been minimized through better forecasting and donations.
How Crumbl is reducing food waste
While some waste is inevitable, Crumbl is taking steps to reduce leftovers and become more sustainable. Here are some key initiatives:
- Improving demand forecasting with historical data, weather data, and other inputs
- Adjusting ingredient orders to better match demand
- Expanding donation programs and employee take-home
- Offering clearance discounts on DoorDash and in-store
- Piloting smaller bake sizes to reduce excess cookies
- Proactively planning deliveries to minimize shipping delays
Future Initiatives
Crumbl also has sustainability goals for the future like:
- Composting in stores where programs exist
- Reducing packaging waste with eco-friendly materials
- Energy and water reduction in stores
While Crumbl has made great progress, they know there are always opportunities to improve waste reduction and sustainability.
Innovative uses for leftovers
Some food brands have gotten creative with their leftovers to further reduce waste. Could Crumbl adopt similar outside-the-box initiatives?
Upcycled Treats
Some bakeries turn unsold baked goods into new treats like bread pudding or croutons. Crumbl could potentially repurpose cookies into new baked goods or desserts.
For example, blending cookie pieces into brownie batter or baking cookie crumbs into a crunchy topping.
Animal Feed
Surplus baked goods are sometimes dehydrated, packed, and sold for animal feed at farms, zoos, and sanctuaries. However, Crumbl’s high sugar cookies may not be suitable for this purpose.
Energy Creation
Innovative companies are also turning food waste into energy. Converting leftovers into biogas or biomass fuel could be an option but may not align with Crumbl’s values.
Community Feedback
Reducing food waste is important to many Crumbl customers. Here’s what people are saying about Crumbl’s sustainability efforts:
Positive Feedback
- “I love that my local Crumbl donates leftovers!”
- “The discount cookies on DoorDash are an awesome way to cut waste.”
- “My friend who works at Crumbl brings home cookies for us. It’s so nice they let employees take leftovers.”
- “Good to see a big company trying to improve on waste. Keep it up Crumbl!”
Constructive Feedback
- “I wish Crumbl offered smaller bakedsizes or sold singles. I don’t always need a whole box.”
- “Maybe they could compost old cookies instead of trashing them?”
- “Seems like they could do more to reduce packaging waste.”
- “Wish we could order exactly how many we want online instead of pre-set amounts.”
Crumbl is listening to constructive feedback for additional ways to improve. But overall, customers seem to appreciate their sustainability initiatives.
Conclusion
Managing leftovers is a necessary evil in the food business. While Crumbl has room to improve, they are taking steps in the right direction. Their donation programs, discount offerings, forecasting initiatives, and employee incentives all help minimize waste.
However, more innovation is needed across the food industry. Passionate customers want brands to be accountable. With some creativity and investment, companies like Crumbl can continue finding new ways to reduce excess and operate sustainably.