Tiff’s Treats is a privately held cookie manufacturing and delivery company. Founded in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

by two

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

graduates. The company operates 70 locations in five states.

History

Founders Tiffany Taylor and Leon Chen met as

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

s at the University of Texas at Austin. The idea for the company started after Tiffany accidentally stood Leon up for a date. She then delivered an apology in the form of warm cookies she'd just baked. The company was established in 1999 with an initial manufacturing facility on Sixth Street in Austin. The founders would bake cookies and deliver them warm to

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

around Austin. The company’s first order was delivered to a woman named “Amy.” Tiffany and Leon Chen 2022 Texas Book Festival

Tiff’s Treats has conducted multiple rounds of financing and received more than $50 million in outside investment since its founding. In 2017,

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

Expansion Capital reported that the fund had invested $25 million in the company and taken a seat on the board. In 2018 the company received additional financing from

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

and

Brooklyn Decker Brooklyn Danielle Decker (born April 12, 1987) is an American model and actress, perhaps best known for her appearances in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue. In addition to working for Victoria's S ...

. That same year Tiff’s Treats acquired

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

-based Jake’s Bakes, a company founded by a fellow University of Texas

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

. As of 2020, the company was valued at $500 million with major investors including

Kendra Scott Kendra Scott (born March 27, 1974) is an American fashion designer. She is the executive chairwoman, designer, and former chief executive officer of Kendra Scott, LLC. In 2017, she was named Ernst & Young's National Entrepreneur of the Year. Ear ...

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gr ...

, Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick. As of 2022, Tiff's Treats employed 2,000 people with operations in five U.S. states. and 70 retail locations. The

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

location was the most trafficked. Tiffany and Leon Chen were married in 2007 and are parents to twins. Their book, ''It’s Not Just Cookies: Stories and Recipes from the Tiff’s Treats Kitchen'' was published by

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

Horizon in April 2022.

References

{{reflist

External links

"The True Stories Behind Tiff’s Treats," The University of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communications
1999 establishments in Texas