FOOD & DRINK

Major’s Cookies A Successful Startup That Gives Back

BY LESLEY KENNY

Soft-baked, scrumptious vegan cookies delivered to your home, office, favourite friends and clients

Three cookies walked into a bar… Technically, it worked the other way around. When Covid sent Sanford Almahda home from his job as a bartender, he spent hours on his couch, bingewatching Netflix and ordering through Uber Eats and Door Dash. One day he’d had enough and decided to bake a batch of cookies for himself and friends. For the first time. Ever.

“When I started making cookies, I noticed the correlation between my passion for bartending and my growing passion for baking,” says Sanford. The owner of Major’s Cookies speaks in thoughtful, deliberate sentences: “In bartending, thousands of flavour profiles need to be measured in small amounts. The key to being a good bartender is paying attention to the notes, the flavour profiles of every spirit. I applied that skill and way of thinking to baking. I knew what I liked and disliked about cookies I’d bought. I asked myself if I made my own version, what would I change? So, I came up with my own recipe.”

Sanford says he’s a pretty good cook, and worked in restaurants right out of high school. But where cooking is forgiving – a touch more salt, a squirt of lemon – baking is not. “The initial steps in the process are the most important. But honestly, I winged it, I really just winged it,” he admits. “I was very determined and I had time. I had nothing else to do but obsess about this one thing.”

The results of his pursuit of the perfect vegan cookie are softbaked, not-too-sweet cookies that come in three flavours, with plans for more. Sanford sources his ingredients locally where possible: “I really make an effort to get the best vegan chocolate I can.” For their size, they pack an impressive amount of fibre and just enough protein. You can indulge in a couple without feeling you’ve blown that New Year’s resolution.

I’m confident in the quality. It’s the best tasting vegan cookie in the city. –Sanford Almahda

Sanford Almahda, the force behind Major’s Cookies. Keep your eye on his IG and website for big changes coming soon. Photo by: Hilary Chan Major’s Cookies are sold in packs of six for $10. Delivered to your door, or wherever you want to send some love. Photo by: Arthur Mola

It’s just Sanford now, sometimes working 70-hour weeks and baking up to 4,000 cookies a week. “It’s a one man show, it’s my life,” he says. “I have some very interesting plans for Major’s.” Those three cookies that walked into a bar – classic chocolate chip, dark chocolate chip and cinnamon raisin – will soon be joined by an expanding line of yummy products… and a line of apparel.

Sanford Almahda credits the continuing success of his startup to the support of friends and satisfied customers, especially those spreading the word on Instagram. That’s where he found photographer Arthur Mola’s call for startups to submit a request for a free product photoshoot. Sanford’s proposal was accepted and professional photos led to two television interviews. Boom.

Community-minded, Major’s Cookies gives back a portion of profits to SickKids, where Sanford spent almost two years of his early life in and out of hospital. He’s also donated huge batches of fresh cookies to Toronto’s frontline healthcare workers. “Anyone who purchases from Major’s is investing in a company that gives back now and will be giving back more in the future,” says Sanford.

How does he keep his sanity with the working hours and pressures of starting a new business, alone, during a pandemic no less? The former bartender, comfortable talking to anyone about anything, now talks out loud to himself throughout the day: “I ask myself how I’m doing, make sure I’m okay in what I’m doing and feel sane and balanced. Just being aware of yourself and loving yourself and being able to know when something’s off is so important.” He admits to being “somewhat” of a purist in terms of his health. “I’ve been vegan for four years. I don’t indulge in the typical … enhancers! I don’t judge, but I just don’t indulge myself.”

Bored of his takeout daze and Netflix haze, Sanford Almahda baked his first cookie. By the two-year mark, there will be more product options and a clothing line and, he hints, maybe even more. What advice does he have for the rest of us thinking of making a change, still dreaming on the couch?

“First, be brave, be really brave,” he says. “Know that you won’t get everything right and it’s okay. Protect your intellectual property, trust your gut and make sure you’re different, because that’s how you’ll last. Oh, and get an accountant!”

Back to that melt-in-your-mouth soft-baked cookie. “I’m confident in the quality,” says Sanford. “It’s the best tasting vegan cookie in the city.”

@majorscookies majorscookies.com

Major’s Cookies supplies corporate meetings, like Telus. Available online now, and in selected retail stores soon.