All-natural progression

What does the maker of Bill Clinton's favorite cookie do for an encore? For San Rafael, Calif.-based Tom's Cookies, the answer is clear: Expand. The 15-year-old company, which gained fame by providing sweet treats for both Clinton/Gore inaugurals, including a peanut-butter-and-banana confection formulated especially for the former president, has a thriving refrigerated cookie dough business in addition to its popular retail location in San Francisco's Macy's Union Square.

Currently carried primarily on the West Coast by such grocers as Safeway, Whole Foods, Andronico's, and Mollie Stone's Markets, Tom's is looking at increasing its Eastern presence this year and considering branching out to club stores, according to general manager Stacy Saal.

The all-natural ingredients Tom's uses appeal to consumers interested in the highest-quality foods, while the packaging, which Saal likens to an ice cream carton, allows home chefs to bake as many or as few cookies as desired, meeting the all-important need for convenience. For added ease, the dough can be broken apart into individual cookies by hand—no knife required. "It's the same product consumers would make if they had the time to do it themselves," notes Saal.

Among the seven flavors currently available at retail are Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Snickerdoodle, and Café Latte, but not Bill Clinton's preferred snack, which Saal describes as rather too "messy" to be sold as a refrigerated dough product. Tom's product development ideas for its ready-to-bake line include the introduction of "a lot more seasonals," she notes, such as holiday shapes of existing varieties, gingerbread and other new flavors, and "Mommy and Me" projects enabling parents and children to create their own themed cookies tied to festive occasions like Easter, Mother's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Currently averaging $2 million in sales, Tom's is "on the cusp" of becoming a bigger business, notes Saal, through its aggressive approach toward sales and marketing. Although she concedes that it can't compete with the "big guys"—Nestlé and Pillsbury—the company trades heavily on its tight-knit atmosphere and public appearances showcasing the down-to-earth charm of founder Tom Roach, as well as demos and sampling. However, its small size can be an advantage in dealing with creative grocers: "We're open to anything the retailer has in the way of ideas," explains Saal.