Legal twist after pop-up shop sparked outrage among cookie fans who queued for an hour to buy famous US Crumbl cookies in Australia for $17.50
The founders of a famous American bakery have indicated they do not intend to sue organizers behind a pop-up that sold their cookies in Australia.
At the pop-up shop in Sydney’s eastern suburb of North Bondi, which opened on the last weekend of September, people queued for up to an hour to discover that the Crumbl biscuits cost a whopping $17.50 per each or $75 for five charges.
A number of customers expressed their dissatisfaction with the price, as a pack of four cookies cost just $21 in the US. It then turned out that the store was run by Crumbl “fans” who brought the baked goods back from Hawaii.
Westbourne College Year 10 student Toby Joshua, 16, was found to be the mastermind behind the pop-up, with the revelation causing further outrage.
The founders of Crumbl told us ABC they had no intention of taking legal action.
“While the pop-up in Australia was not sponsored by Crumbl, we are excited to see excitement about Crumbl around the world,” a statement from the company said.
Despite the store being promoted on a TikTok account called crumblcookiesyd, which had the same pink branding as the US company, Toby and his family said they never claimed to be an official outlet but were “passionate fans”.
“This event was never about profit,” they said.
“Our intention was to bring the cookies to Crumbl fans. Importing and reselling is called parallel import. Parallel import is legal.
The founders of a famous American bakery have indicated they have no intention of suing organizers behind a pop-up that sold their cookies in Australia (photo: an Australian unimpressed by the cookies)
‘We have followed all legal procedures, classified the cookies as commercial goods and obtained the necessary approvals from Australian Customs.
‘We hope this clears up any confusion. Thank you to those who supported us and gave us valuable feedback.”
A parallel import is an item purchased overseas to be sold in Australia, where the reseller does not have permission from those behind the product.
This remains legal as long as the items are not represented as being sold by the maker or its subsidiary.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the organizers have made such a statement.
Since the cookies were purchased days earlier in the US, some of them complained about their quality.
“This is actually really bad,” said TikTok food critic Hamze.
“It’s so sweet, the texture is just weird, it’s so sugary — I feel like I’m just eating sugar.”
The organizers of the pop-up store defended themselves on TikTok.
‘We have never claimed to be an official Crumbl store. This was clearly stated in the biography and our comments,” they said.
“Our goal was to bring authentic Crumbl cookies to Australia by importing the cookies directly from the US.”
Customers queued for ‘hours’ to try the famous Crumbl biscuits but claimed the imported biscuits were ‘disappointing’ (pictured, queues in North Bondi on Sunday)
“We traveled to the US to purchase the cookies and imported them in their original packaging. We didn’t bake them ourselves.’
‘Crumbl cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to seven days.
‘We have held them to these requirements. Some were reheated to enhance the texture, which is what Crumbl does.”
Organizers insisted only a few people had complaints.
“While most customers enjoyed the cookies, a few influencers felt they did not meet expectations,” they said.
‘We apologize for that [the cookies] Don’t meet expectations, but at the end of the day they’re just cookies.
‘While there may be a slight difference in quality, some flavors may not appeal to some people.
“Lots of people have contacted us saying they were delicious, and thanks for selling them.”
Many customers were shocked to see the cookies being sold for $17.50 each, despite the same cookies being sold in packs of four for $21 in the US.
Crumbl cookie flavors include Cookies and Cream Milkshake, Ultimate Peanut Butter, Brownie Sundae and Pumpkin Cake plus their original chocolate chip flavors and sell for about $6.50 in the US.
On Wednesday, Daily Mail Australia tracked down Toby, the registered owner of the Candy X and Sugar Party AU companies behind the venture, at his family home in the city’s east.
But the brothers’ mother, Lauren Joshua, refused to answer questions about the reaction to their $4 million Bellevue Hill mansion, slamming the door on reporters.
