Too Good Gourmet: 'Off the Beaten Path'

You won't have a follow a path of crumbs to find San Lorenzo's cookie oasis this holiday season.

Dancing signs held by employees and Santa Claus himself, lead locals and visitors to , located along Grant Avenue — the heart of San Lorenzo's industrial area.

The cookie company is nationally recognized for their unique packaging and variety of seasonal sweets and baked goods.

“We love it here [in San Lorenzo],” said CEO Jennifer Finley. “It's off the beaten the path."

In 1998, Finley started the company out of her mother Amie Watson's Santa Cruz home. They opened their San Lorenzo baking facility in 2004.

Many local residents may be surprised to learn that the 50,000-square-foot business, production and retail facility is only a couple blocks away from .

“We would love the local community to come out and discover what we have to offer,” Finley said. “We produce about nine tons of cookies daily."

Too Good Gourmet sells their products to major retailers across the country such as Neimen Marcus and Macy’s. You can also find them in grocery chains like Safeway and Costco.

“What makes our products different are that they are fun and the packaging is unique," Finley said.

The colorful, artistic boxes are all designed by an art director. However, it's not just the fancy packaging that customers enjoy. It is also what's inside.

Too Good Gourmet's bite-sized cookies, tea cookies, chocolate-bottomed and health and organic cookies are among the company’s top sellers, all selling between $1 and $6.

The company employs about 65 seasonal employees and 25 regular, according to Finley. Too Good Gourmet also offers holiday-themed cookies year-round during Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day and Thanksgiving.

Even before this holiday season is over, Finley’s team is already planning for next year’s product offerings.

She said a lot of thought and planning goes into each season and hopes more people are confident that the company will be around for years to come.

Though her mother has since retired to Seattle, Finley continues to lead the company and does not plan on stopping anytime soon. She said the biggest challenge to running the company is adapting to the constantly changing business environment.

“The past two years have been tough, but overall we are doing well,” Finley said. “We constantly have to reinvent ourselves to offer different seasonal packaging and products year-round."

She also keeps a blog called “Beyond the Cookie,” which gives customers an inside look on how she runs the business.

“My goal with this blog is to share with you some of the challenges we have faced and talk about how we have succeeded and failed along the way.”

Too Good Gourmet has been featured in various news websites and baking magazines incluing BNET and Baking-Management.com.

“At TGG we have to have had to make important and often painful decision in order to navigate successfully through the past two years,” Finley said in her blog. “It is a time of examination and retrenchment of looking critically at what you are doing and shedding those things that no longer work,” she added.  “I have been going through this process both personally and in my business over the past year, to see where we can make money or save money. It is a powerful process — and one that forces you to confront things head on," she concluded.

But she said the planning has resulted in a “stronger, healthier, and, with an added dose of faith and determination, a more succsful company.”

Too Good Gourmet’s retail outlet will be open to visitors 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until Dec. 24. It's located at 2380 Grant Ave. in San Lorenzo,

For more information call 510-317-8150 or visit www.toogoodgourmet.com.