With annual sales of $250,000, a staff of 10, a state-of-the-art kitchen in Northside, retail store at Findlay Market and bright pink food truck hitting streets this week, owner Peggy Shannon could certainly be content making her signature shortbreads and schneckens.
But Shannon’s mission is much bigger than sweet treats. She wants to become Cincinnati’s next big benefactor, donating millions of dollars to arts, kids, community and pet adoption organizations regionwide. To raise those funds, she’ll need Queen City Cookies to become the region’s next big brand, with products in specialty food stores and major grocery retailers around the world.
Helping that cause are a team of mentors and experienced local food entrepreneurs: Graeter’s Chip Graeter, Dan Cohen of Clearbook Farms and Debbie Simpson, president and CEO of Multi-Craft Inc.
By summer, she’ll move her staff into the 1865-built St. Pius X Church on Blue Rock Road in Northside. She agreed to purchase the 14,500-square-foot building last week and will immediately begin renovations to convert its sanctuary into a retail bakery and community meeting space, and gymnasium into a production facility. New machinery will help her team make tens of thousands of cookies an hour, up from just 300 per hour today.
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