The founders behind a famous US bakery have indicated they have no intention of suing organisers behind a pop-up that sold their cookies in .
The pop-up store in the eastern Sydney suburb of North Bondi set up on the last weekend in September had people queuing for as long as an hour to only discover that the Crumbl cookies cost a whopping $17.50 each or $75 for five.
A number of customers expressed dismay at the price, with a packet of four cookies costing just $21 in the US, with it emerging the store was run by Crumbl ‘fans’ who brought the baked goods back from Hawaii.
Westbourne College Year 10 student Toby Joshua, 16, was revealed to be the mastermind behind the pop-up with the revelation fuelling further rage.
Crumbl founders told the ABC they had no intention of taking legal action.
‘While the pop-up in was not sponsored by Crumbl, we love seeing excitement for Crumbl around the world,’ a statement from the company said.
Despite the store being promoted on a TikTok account called crumblcookiesyd, which boasted the same pink branding as the US company, Toby and his family said they never claimed to be an official outlet, but were ‘passionate fans’.
‘This event was never about profit,’ they said.
‘We aimed to bring the cookies to Crumbl fans. Importing and reselling is called parallel imports. Parallel imports are legal.
‘We followed all legal procedures, declaring the cookies as commercial goods and obtaining the necessary approvals from n customs.
‘We hope this clears up any confusion. Thank you to those who supported us and gave us valuable feedback.’
A parallel import is an item bought overseas to be sold in where the reseller doesn’t have the permission of those behind the product.
This remains legal as long as the items are not represented as being sold by the maker or an affiliate of them.
Daily Mail does not suggest the organisers made any such representation.
With the cookies having been bought days earlier in the US, a number of those complained about their quality.
‘This is actually very bad,’ TikTok food reviewer Hamze said.
‘It’s so sweet, the texture is just weird, it’s so sugary – I feel like I’m just eating sugar.’
The pop-up store organisers defended themselves on TikTok.
‘We never claimed to be an official Crumbl store. This was clearly stated in bio and our comments,’ they said.
‘Our goal was to bring the authentic Crumbl cookies to by importing the cookies directly from the USA.’
‘We traveled to the US to purchase the cookies and imported them with their original packaging. We did not bake them ourselves.’
‘Crumbl cookies should be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days, or refrigerated for up to seven days.
‘We kept them to these requirements. Some were warmed to enhance their texture, which is what Crumbl does as well.’
The organisers insisted it was only a few people who had complaints.
‘While most customers enjoyed the cookies, a couple of influencers felt they didn’t meet expectations,’ they said.
‘We apologise that [the cookies] don’t live up to expectations however they are just cookies at the end of the day.
‘While there may be a small difference in quality, some flavours may not appeal to some people.
‘A lot of people have reached out to us who were there saying they were delicious and thank you for selling them.’
Crumbl cookie flavours include Cookies and Cream Milkshake, Ultimate Peanut Butter, Brownie Sundae and Pumpkin Cake plus their original chocolate chip flavours and sell for around $6.50 in the US.
On Wednesday, Daily Mail tracked down Toby, registered owner of Candy X and Sugar Party AU companies behind the venture, to his family home in the city’s east.
But the brothers’ mother Lauren Joshua refused to take questions about the backlash at their $4million Bellevue Hill mansion, and slammed the door shut on reporters.