That’s the way the BIGG & THICC cookie crumbles
What a time to be alive! The dream of having cookies delivered to your door is now very much real thanks to BIGG & THICC. What started as a weekend market staple, has now turned into a delicious online bakehouse, with a cult-following desperate to lock their jaws around chewy, moreish New York-style cookies, decadent brownies, and irresistible baked goods.
BIGG & THICC Founder and Owner Chris Sheldrick told the tale of the businesses inception.
“We had been operating a wholesale bakery in Sydney for around eight years and supplying a number of cafes with home-baked goods. I had fallen in love with these large gooey New-York style cookies – which are chunky and usually around three to four times thicker than regular cookies,” Mr Sheldrick said.
After returning from New York to Sydney, Mr Sheldrick couldn’t find anything remotely similar and challenged himself by wondering how he could expect someone else to make these desirable cookies, if he didn’t try to do it himself.
“Initially we created the THICC Cookie for us, and in terms of how we named them, we simply called them what we referred to them as – the THICC Cookie,” he said.
Heading up the brand with Mr Sheldrick is his sister Emma Sheldrick and sister-in-law Aileen Zhang.
They debuted the brand by buying wet-floor signs and caution tape from Bunnings to decorate a market stall (ironically, those accessories ended up inspiring the brand’s logo).
“Family ownership is simply easier. It’s easier to work together, to go that extra mile and work harder to turn ideas into reality. We don’t operate with any investors involved so it’s easier to make decisions together. As family, we work in the business seven days a week, so we all know what’s going on,” he said.
Mr Sheldrick hired staff and planned to sell the cookie range at the Sydney Easter Show, but alas, Australia went into lockdown with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a pallet of Manildra Group’s Gem of the West Baker’s and Plain Flour, a tonne of Couverture chocolate, and a lot of New Zealand Butter, so when the event cancelled, we pivoted everyone and everything to online delivery – and our two weeks’ worth of ingredients were gone in less than one week.
“I knew we had to keep our staff employed, so the office staff became delivery drivers and others made cookie dough. We never let the pandemic or the up’s and down’s of business get the better of us,” he said proudly.
And the orders continue to roll in. Soon, BIGG & THICC was shipping 500 boxes of chunky chewy cookies a day around the nation, freshly made, with varying flavours including Choc Chip, Nutella, Cookies’n’Cream, Red Velvet, Funfetti Chip, Lotus Biscoff to Caramilk, S’mores, Peanut Butter and more.
“If markets or festivals cancelled on the day of the event due to lockdowns, we “hustled” to
use up the stock. We opened pop up stalls or offered wholesale customers additional products, or provided free shipping on all online orders,” said Mr Sheldrick.
Available online, BIGG & THICC, sends it’s New-York style delicacies all over the country, expanding their range with box sets, brownies and more, all made with family-owned Manildra Group’s Australian-grown and made Gem of the West Plain Flour and Baker’s Flour.
You’ll find the genius behind BIGG & THICC tinkering in the kitchen, surrounded by family and team members, throwing around ideas to develop products that are “fun, new, unique and interesting” to remain at the forefront of the market.
Freshly baked at BIGG & THICC’s state-of-the- art commercial bakery in Silverwater, Sydney, New South Wales and employing 20 staff, their moreish range uses the “best quality ingredients we can get our hands on”.
“Unusual for the cookie business, most companies are trying to make cookies as cheap as possible, using cheaper and less-quality ingredients, so customers are not used to having such premium quality cookies – until they taste ours!” Mr Sheldrick said.
“Sourcing local ingredients ticks a lot of boxes. Australia has the highest food standards than almost anywhere in the world. It’s more environmentally- friendly knowing that the ingredients haven’t travelled as far, and as an agricultural nation, it’s important to support our local farmers whenever we can,” he told The Cultivator.
In general, their range can be held in one hand, but if size is no issue, BIGG & THICC said, “challenge accepted” and launched a “one-kilo-cookie” range. Delivered to your door nation-wide in a foil tray, with instructions on how it can be reheated in an oven so it can be enjoyed warmly baked to perfection.
The 1kg fudgy marvel comes in a range of delicious flavours from the classic Chocolate Chip – a chocolate-chip stuffed genius, to the Funfetti Chip sweet white chocolate smothered with sprinkles, and for the chocolate lovers, a cookie with pockets of rich Nutella throughout.
“Hilariously, our customers have also been sharing trying to eat one in one go!” Mr Sheldrick said.
A man of many talents, Mr Sheldrick is also one of the co-founders of new inner-city Sydney bakery, Banksia Bakehouse, renowned for its heavenly strawberry rose and Pina Colada croissants.
He’s also added a range of moreish dense decadent brownies to the BIGG & THICC business, from triple chocolate, banoffee, and apple crumble to mint, matcha and more.
“You can even order a massive casserole dish-size pimped-out brownie, we’ve taken the humble brownie to the next level, so you can live your best sweet-tooth life!”
In 2020, BIGG & THICC together with MasterFoods Tomato Sauce, launched a “Tomato Sauce Cookie,” a warm buttery cookie goodness with a sweet, spiced taste of tomatoes.
“We find that collaborating is a way to grow closer ties with other businesses, expand our networks and industry knowledge,” he said.
BIGG & THICC are currently working on launching their Cheesecake business “Chunky Cheesecakes”, and additionally collaborations with brands including Tobasco, Gelatissimo, and Vegemite.
If they weren’t already busy enough, the company is creating an irresistible range of cookie dough products for the retail market.
Manildra Group National Sales Manager, Murray Newman, said Mr Sheldrick’s business had ingeniously adapted to a yo-yoing market, delivering audaciously enticing freshly-baked cookies and brownies from oven to door – whilst keeping quality and innovation at heart.
“BIGG & THICC’s growth has been remarkable and we’re very proud to supply an Aussie family business, that bakes perfectly chewy, fudgy creations which really are in a league of their own,” said Mr Newman.
Mr Sheldrick said baking is more of a science than an art, so the highest-quality and consistency of ingredients, including flour is fundamental to their heavenly dessert range.
“I’m looking forward to the day that our Manildra Group flour is delivered by the truckload, rather than the pallet load!” he said.
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