Crumbl Cookies confusion leaves Sydneysiders disappointed
Australians were excited to finally try a Crumbl Cookie straight from the US, only to find they were a week-old and cost $17.50. Picture by Crumbl Cookies
Biscuit-loving fans have expressed their disappointment after a Crumbl Cookies pop-up store appeared in Sydney that was not affiliated with the company.
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US dessert store fans were spotted on Sunday September 29 lining up for more than an hour in North Bondi to get their hands on a cult biscuit, only to find they cost $17.50 each, five packs at $75 or a cookie cutter at $15, while a single cookie sold in the US would be $6.50.
The event was run by a TikTok page @crumblsydney, with organisers flying to Hawaii earlier that week to purchase the biscuits and resell them in the window of a trophy shop on Old South Head Road.
Served in a pink box, the popularity of Crumbl Cookies has quickly grown across the US, known for serving different flavours every week.
They sell more than one million cookies every day and have 862 locations worldwide with some Sydney fans thinking they were lucky and the company had expanded Down Under.
In the lead-up to the pop-up store, the @crumblsydney account teased the cookies launching into Australia by posting Crumbl's promotional videos with text including "Crumbl is landing in Australia" making many believe it was the actual company.
Content creator Elle Salagaras bought 10 cookies and did not realise the pop-up was not affiliated with the brand.
When asked in her TikTok video if the cookies were worth it, she shook her head and replied "I can't believe I waited an hour."
Eager Sydneysiders waited for more than an hour to buy an imported cookie. Photos from @elle_easternsuburbsmum TikTok.
In a comment on her video, Crumbl Cookies founder Sawyer Hemsley warned of the purchase.
"You need to try them fresh in the [US]! PS: This pop-up is not affiliated with Crumbl Cookies," he said.
Another creator Sofia Qistine waited 45 minutes for the cookies and said she witnessed people fighting over the cookies as well.
"It's something I can make at home," she said.
The influencer said the cookies were not fresh as comments on the video insisted it was a scam.
A post on @crumblsydney's account confirmed the cookies had been collected in Hawaii almost a week ago and were due to be sold in Sydney on September 25, however flight changes delayed the pop-up for a further four days.
Their account was banned on Instagram but the Crumbl importers took to TikTok to clear up the confusion after the event.
"We never claimed to be the official Crumbl store. This was clearly stated in bio and our comments," they said.
"Our goal was to bring the authentic Crumbl cookies to Australia by importing the cookies directly from the USA."
The anonymous account said they never intended to profit from the sales as airfares and luggage cost $4,000 and $6,000 was spent on cookies and packaging, $2,000 on duties, taxes and customs brokering and more than $1,000 on staff.
They said they complied with customs laws and everything was legally cleared by biosecurity and they also followed Crumbl Cookies storage instructions that said cookies can be refrigerated for up to 7 days.
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