DELICIOUS COOKIE READIES PUSH BEYOND SUPERMARKETS

JOHN KAROLEFSKI

NEW YORK -- Delicious Cookie Co./R.W. Frookie Inc. is gearing up to market its brands outside supermarkets and also internationally, according to Phillip Roos, president. Those markets only account for 5% of the business today, said Roos, who plans to increase this share to 30%. "We're in 70% of all grocery stores right now, which is pretty good in a direct-store-delivery environment. We can get much broader with nongrocery and international distribution. We also have more money to market to get greater shelf presence," said Roos, speaking at a conference here cosponsored by Executive Enterprises and Gerstman & Meyers, a brand identity and design firm. The Des Plaines, Ill.-based company is well known for its "co-branded" cookies using ingredients such as Skippy peanut butter, Chiquita banana and Musselman's apple sauce. The company was formed earlier this year with the merger of Delicious Cookie Co. and R.W. Frookie. The latter was one of the first manufacturers to market healthy snacks and cookie products. Delicious Cookie Co. was formed about 10 years ago by a distributor cooperative. According to Roos, the merger made the goal of expanding business outside supermarkets more achievable. That's because the merger essentially ended the ownership by distributors who were reluctant to seek business from competitors of their traditional customers -- supermarkets. "Now we're gearing up in a major way" to do this, said Roos. Delicious Cookie Co. has received widespread publicity for its "co-branded" cookies. The formula for success has been "Brand names you trust in cookies that you love," said Roos. "When we had two and three items, retailers didn't have to carry the line," said Roos. "It wasn't important at that point. They really got lost on the shelf. Now we're in a position where fairly shortly we can put together a four-foot section in the grocery aisle totally devoted to these items. That's helpful for everybody because we can broaden our distribution base," he said.