Contributed by Carolyn Bilger | marketing director | Hobart Food Prep Equipment
TROY, OH — When Sean Heaney was a senior at Brigham Young University in Idaho, his focus was on completing his degree in business management with an emphasis on supply chains. He also had one other goal: to no longer have a boss. While brainstorming business ideas, Sean looped his brother-in-law, Derek, into the conversation. Initially, starting a gym sounded like a good plan until they realized the amount of upfront capital needed and the competition in a saturated market. Eventually, discussions led to the opening of Keksi Cookie Co. in Keller, TX, Sean’s hometown.
How did you decide to go into the cookie business?
Sean Heaney: Derek and I were bouncing ideas off each other for a business startup and my mom, Jacque, overheard us. She asked, “Why don’t you guys try selling my cookies?” And that’s how it all started. She has always made these amazing cookies for family and church events or neighborhood gatherings, and people always raved about them. Everyone has told her for years that she should sell them, so we decided to do it.
What inspired the name Keksi for the bakery?
Sean: I spent two years in Finland on a church mission and learned the language while I was there. Keksi is the Finnish word for cookie, and it seemed fitting to name the bakery that since being there was a meaningful part of my life. It was a way to honor that journey.
How did you decide on a shipping business model?
Sean: We started Keksi in 2020 during the global pandemic, so shipping our cookies was a matter of necessity. We also wanted to keep our costs low and stay on the safer side to see if we were onto something. About six months into the business, we realized we needed to find a commercial space because we couldn’t keep up with the volume of orders and were limited by cottage laws to shipping only within Texas. That first year in the home kitchen, we baked close to 50,000 cookies using a small stand mixer and pulling in my mom, Derek and any siblings we could wrangle to help. It wasn’t sustainable, so we eventually moved to our current space in early 2021.
What is Keksi’s philosophy on baking?
Sean: Our philosophy is to use simple ingredients and preserve the homemade aspect of our cookies. That’s what drives all our recipes. We make sure that they’re authentic to the original recipes that started everything. We use good ingredients and don’t add preservatives.
How many of the cookies your mom baked when you were young are on the menu today?
Sean: Growing up, my mom always made Texas chocolate chip cookies. We’ve kept her original chocolate chip cookie recipe on our menu, and it’s probably one of our most popular cookies. She would also make her chocolate ginger crinkle cookie, which is my all-time favorite that we add to the menu periodically. Along with her chocolate chip cookie, our Texas sheet cake, New York chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar lemon and snickerdoodles are always on the menu. We also have a cookie of the month and five cookies that rotate quarterly. We always have 12 cookies on the menu at all times. All the recipes stem from one of two bases — chocolate or brown sugar — and my mom comes up with new recipe ideas from there.
On an average day, how many cookies does Keksi make and ship? How much does that change during the holidays?
Sean: On average, we make about 1,200 cookies a day, shipping them within a day or two. Last holiday season, we baked about 6,000 a day, which was crazy. We went from having five to six employees to 15 to 20 after hiring seasonal staff to support customer demand.
How has your Hobart Legacy+ mixer supported the business?
Sean: We have a 60-quart mixer, and it’s just so reliable. We don’t have a lot of equipment in our kitchen, but it’s one piece we don’t have to worry about. The bakers like the Soft Start feature since it keeps the ingredients from splashing out of the bowl and the kitchen cleaner. The Shift-on-the-Fly is great, too, since the bakers can shift gears without having to stop. Overall, when I think of Hobart, I think of a reliable, trustworthy mixer that is going to get the job done.
What does the future look like for Keksi?
Sean: We’d love to establish a brick-and-mortar storefront to expand our operations for walk-in customers and order pickups. We’ve looked at some locations but don’t have a definite timeline on moving forward. We’re really trying to be selective and smart about where we go, so we’re willing to wait until the right opportunity comes up.
