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Cookie Time
IndustryFood
Founded1983; 41 years ago (1983)
FounderMichael Mayell
Headquarters
New Zealand
Area served
New Zealand, Japan[1]
ProductsCookies, One Square Meal[2]

Cookie Time Ltd is a New Zealand company based in Christchurch, New Zealand which has been manufacturing snack foods since 1983.

It is fronted by a mascot known as the Cookie Muncher. The company's factory, with a shop for members of the public to buy cookies and other products, is at 789 Main South Road, in the settlement of Templeton, on the outskirts of Christchurch.

History

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Mayell in 2019

Cookie Time was founded in Christchurch by 21-year-old Michael Mayell. Mayell was inspired by Mrs Field's Cookies in the United States.[3] He baked cookies in a rented bakery and then starting on 7 February 1983, he and his mother delivered them to dairies across Christchurch, where they were sold individually from large glass jars.[4] Mayell sold 5000 cookies in the first week, and in the first year of operation sold $240,000 worth of cookies.[3] Mayell's brother Guy Pope-Mayell joined the company shortly after its formation.[4] In 1987 the company started packaging the cookies individually to prolong their shelf life and enable them to be sold in petrol stations.[3]

On 2 April 1996 the company broke the Guinness World Record for the world's largest cookie by baking a 487 m2 (5241.5 sq. ft) cookie in a field behind their factory. The cookie had a diameter of 24.9 m (81 ft 8 in).[5]

In May 2010 Cookie Time opened its first Cookie Bar in Queenstown. This is a retail store where customers can order various cookie-related food and drinks and buy souvenir merchandise.[6] Following the success of the Queenstown operation, the company opened a Cookie Bar in Harajuku, Tokyo in December 2013, in partnership with a Japanese food distribution business.[7] Cookie dough for the shop in Japan was supplied from New Zealand.[8][9] In November of 2022, Cookie Time opened a Cookie Bar in Dunedin, New Zealand.[10]

Cookie Time began supplying Air New Zealand with snacks for passengers on domestic flights in 2012.[11] In 2021 a passenger on an Air New Zealand flight jokingly complained to police that the airline had shifted from handing out Cookie Time chocolate chunk cookies to a shortbread variety. Air New Zealand advised that it periodically swaps to different cookie varieties.[12]

In 2018 McDonald's Cookie Time McFlurry became available through Uber Eats.[13]

Products

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The company's first and most recognisable product is the Original Chocolate Chunk Cookie, a large, individually wrapped cookie with oversized chocolate pieces. The recipe for this cookie has remained unchanged since 1983, a sign of its success in the New Zealand market. Other versions of individually wrapped cookies have been released, such as Triple Chocolate, Apricot Chocolate, and Chocolate Chunk Afghan. Other products include Christmas Cookies, Bumper Bars, Bumper Slice, One Square Meal and Smart Cookies. In 2020 there was a collaboration with Tip Top ice cream to create 'cookie caramel crush' flavoured ice cream.[14] In July 2021, Cookie Time introduced a lolly cake biscuit in supermarkets and other retailers. Night 'n Day appeared to sell it before its official release date.[15]

At seasonal times of the year the company takes on temporary staff on evening and night shifts to meet demand. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, university students sell buckets of small cookies door-to-door in city shops and offices and street stalls.[16][17] Some of the profits from the Christmas cookies go to the Cookie Time Charitable Trust, which was set up in 2003 (as Cookie Munchers Charitable Trust) to support New Zealand children.[18]

Controversies

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  • 2000: Cookie Time alleged that Griffins was breaching the Fair Trading Act by selling cookies in a plastic bucket very similar to Cookie Time's Christmas bucket. Cookie Time pointed out that the Griffins product only held 375g of biscuits whereas Cookie Time buckets of the same size held 650g of cookies.[16] Griffins was forced to withdraw 10,000 buckets of cookies from sale.[19]
  • 2007: The company was fined $40,000 for breaching industrial safety regulations after a worker got trapped in a machine and broke her arm.[20][21]
  • 2011: Cookie Time filed a case against Qingdao Chengze Trade, who applied to use the Cookie Time logo in China. Qingdao Chengze's application to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) used artwork that is identical to the Cookie Time logo.[22]
  • 2015: Cookie Time asked Auckland café Moustache Milk and Cookie Bar to change its name, stating that 'Cookie Bar' was a potential trademark infringement of Cookie Time's Cookie Bar shop in Queenstown.[23] As of 2021 Moustache has not changed its name, though it advertises as just 'Moustache'.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Alan Wood (14 February 2014). "Cookie Time enters Japan". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  2. ^ McCrone, John (26 August 2017). "National Portrait: Michael Mayell thinks we can eat our way to cleaner water". Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Shaw, Aimee (18 August 2018). "Michael Mayell from sweet treats to hemp seeds". New Zealand Herald. pp. C3 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
  4. ^ a b Harris, Catherine (7 February 2013). "Time for serious growth of Cookie brand". Manawatu Standard. p. 8 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
  5. ^ Guinness World Records 2001. London, England: Guinness World Records Ltd. 2000. p. 73. ISBN 1-892051-01-X – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Roxburgh, Tracey (12 May 2010). "Cookie Time first for Queenstown". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. ^ Wood, Alan (13 February 2014). "Cookie Time enters Japan". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. ^ Downes, Siobhan (21 December 2013). "Cookie time goes international". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  9. ^ Wood, Alan (13 February 2014). "Demand strong in Japan for Cookie Time". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  10. ^ caitlan (25 November 2022). "Dunedin Cookie Bar Opens". Supermarket News. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Watch the Cookie Time Fly on Air New Zealand!". Scoop. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  12. ^ Downes, Siobhan (31 March 2021). "'Extremely disappointing': Police weigh in on Air New Zealand's 'cookie crime'". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  13. ^ "McDonald's Cookie Time McFlurry launches exclusively on Uber Eats". Stuff. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Cookie Caramel Crush: New Cookie Time ice cream on the way". Otago Daily Times Online News. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  15. ^ "'Best thing invented': Cookie Time releases colab of Kiwi classics – the Lolly Cake cookie". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. New Zealand Herald. 27 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Cookie Time Biscuit Bucket Doppelganger". Scoop. 15 November 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  17. ^ Moorby, Caitlin (27 December 2016). "Slave to Summer: The cookie sellers". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Cookies raise $200,000". Otago Daily Times Online News. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  19. ^ "NEW ZEALAND: Cookie Time wins injunction against Danone's Griffins". Just Food. 29 November 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Biscuit firm owns up to breaches". The Press. 2 November 2007. pp. A6 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
  21. ^ "Higher work-safety fines criticised by employers". Stuff. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  22. ^ "Cookie time fights for China trademark". NBR. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  23. ^ Fletcher, Kelsey (16 October 2012). "Cookie giant challenges Auckland shop". Stuff. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Moustache". Moustache. 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
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