Limerick native Sarah O’Sullivan’s SOS Cookies last year made 300,000 cookies. This year it is on track to make 700,000 cookies.
SOS Cookies, which began life as a Covid project, is now on track to hit a turnover of €1m after generating a loyal audience through platforms like TikTok.
Founded in December 2020 by chocolate-loving mastermind Sarah O’Sullivan, SOS Cookies is the ultimate cookie haven born from a passion for all things sweet and delightful.
“Now that we are building momentum and on track to hit a huge business milestone with €1m in turnover I want to stay focused on reinvesting into the business”
With a background in product development and a keen eye for analysing food trends thanks to a Masters with Bord Bia in Food Innovation & Insights, Sarah’s journey into the world of cookies was inevitable.
Cookie monster
Founded in Limerick and now available nationwide, self-taught baker Sarah’s cookie-making adventures began during the first lockdown, where she whipped up batches of cookies at home and shared her mouthwatering creations on Instagram.
With every batch, Sarah’s talent and passion for baking shone brighter, culminating in the birth of SOS Cookies—a true labour of love.
SOS Cookies is available in independent Irish coffee shops around Ireland online, in Arnotts department store and many more locations. The brand creates bespoke orders for corporate and personal customers and employs more than 20 people.
The business recently launch a pop-up at Dundrum Town Centre as part of its 2024 growth strategy. The pop-up at Dundrum Town Centre launched in July and can be found on Level 1 of the mall until the end of summer.
Summer of sales
Sarah O’Sullivan, founder of SOS Cookies
Last year the business made 300,000 cookies, which were snapped up online, through stockists and at the brand’s concession in Arnotts. This year, with a growing desire for personalised corporate orders, the Dundrum Town Centre pop-up and continual consumer engagement, the brand will make 700,000 cookies.
Since launching the demand has been unprecedented with sales achieving 50% more than anticipated. The Limerick based business moved into a new production kitchen in January to meet the ongoing demand for the delectable products and is now set to move into a new kitchen again in the coming weeks which will be twice the size. What began as an online business in 2020, initially building up a young female audience through savvy social media content, has expanded its appeal over time.
O’Sullivan said that the concession in Arnotts really moved the dial for the start-up, generating huge awareness with customers in the capital but also proving that a brick and mortar aspect to the business could generate sales. Since then the growing team of 20+ has worked on new ways to drive growth.
Not only with pop-up concepts but also through corporate customers, which is a huge market for the brand as it can personalise orders for a variety of internal and external corporate events.
O’Sullivan says she plans on reinvesting to continue that growth trajectory, creating employment opportunities and positively contributing to local economies.
“Launching in Dundrum Town Centre has been our biggest exercise to date and it has far exceeded our expectations. The customer engagement has been integral, we have been baking cookies around the clock to meet the demand, which has been so exciting.
“When I first started the business in 2020, I of course hoped to build this kind of audience, but the growth and customer support has been beyond my imagining. I knew through my background in product development and my time spent on the Bord Bia Masters programme in Food Innovation and Insights that Irish consumers engage well with innovative homegrown brands and I could see a clear gap in the market for SOS Cookies.
“Now that we are building momentum and on track to hit a huge business milestone with €1m in turnover I want to stay focused on reinvesting into the business, supporting my team and the stockists that we work with.
“While it certainly seems like a big number there is of course an array of costs that come along with a food production business, especially with ingredients and operations costs growing at a rapid pace. I am optimistic for further growth though, especially with opportunities like pop-ups and our growing corporate customer base.”
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