Contributor: Crystal
A true treasure near the University of Washington for anyone with a sweet tooth is the Sugar and Spoon cookie dough dessert shop near the Ave. You cannot miss the store front’s vibrant pink and blue colors walking by, and if you saw the menu, you won’t walk away. As a senior year student in the University of Washington, I know that the company is a legend itself that is discussed in Foster School of Business’s entrepreneurship program. The owners and former huskies, Ivana Orlovic and William Hubbell, had the innovative idea of turning cookie dough into edible desserts. The original conceptual name of the company was called “Doughboys,” and in the summer of 2018, “Sugar + Spoon” became official.
After a nice chat with William, I swung by the store on a sunny Tuesday to talk with the store manager, MJ. She immediately welcomed us into the cute inner space of the store to see the magic behind each cup of cookie dough dessert. I’m first amazed by how vibrant the internal decoration is. The walls are cute pink, and the floor is a cool blue. There are decorative lights hanging above the ceiling, making it almost a studio vibe. If anything, this is definitely a creative studio, and MJ is the fabulous creator of the genius dessert cups.
“Working here just feels different. When I join the team, it like being part of a small family where the bonds are very close and I’m always with my friends. What makes us different is definitely the staff and the product. We have a young boss who’s very close with the staff, and the connections are better compared to any other jobs I’ve had. We also have such pretty and innovative products. I love making and decorating them!”
Sure enough, Sugar + Spoon is the first edible cookie dough company in Seattle. There are no eggs, and the flour is heat-treated to create a dough one can eat safely straight from the jar. Currently, there are two trucks with a third coming up that travel all over the city to supply dough to lucky people alongside its online and brick and mortar stores.
“Our trucks are definitely the ones that are generating the most sales right now since COVID. People sometimes mistook us as an ice cream truck, but the dough is catching on. People love it. I think it’s a fun little community we build too. Some of these people that I knew indirectly, now because of this job, I see them all the time.”
If anything, the probability of MJ seeing me spooning dough will significantly increase. There’s so much to choose from, and I was generously offered some and can’t help but to ask for advice.
“My favorite will definitely be the brownie batter. It has brownie in it, and you just can’t go wrong!” MJ ended up giving us three cups of heaven. They are the pink “Party Animal,” blue “Cookie Monster,” and the brownie “Seasonal: Fish Food.” They are gone under 5 minutes, and that should explain it all.
Sugar + Spoon is truly a successful company with its innovative products, stellar employees, and always keeping up with the Seattle Labor Standard Ordinances by working closely with our team at the ECCC. I dropped off the 2021 Labor Law Poster to the store. MJ expressed how the boxes are really clear to follow and she like how detailed the information is. The Seattle Labor Standards Ordinances poster is truly a handy tool for employer to make quick references for important information thanks to the OLS and ECCC.
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