The Vegan Treatory produces a range of 100 percent vegan and cruelty-free cookies and cookie doughs developed to appeal to vegans and non-vegans alike.
When The Vegan Treatory first launched its edible cookie dough, the packaging included instructions on baking the dough into cookies using an oven or heating it into a gooey dish in the microwave. Owner Stephanie van der Merwe hadn't considered placing the dough into an air fryer until consumers started sharing their air fryer cookie dough results on social media.
Van der Merwe said that the success of the cookie dough as an air fryer treat had everything to do with the flavour experience it provides consumers. While it wasn’t specifically made for the air fryer, it was crafted to be a versatile and delicious product that could be adapted to numerous recipes and baking formats. The Vegan Treatory boasts a range of cookie dough flavours, including Classic Choc Chip, Fudgy Choc Chip, Biscoff Cookie, Gimme S'mores, and Peanut Butter Choc Chip Marshmallow.
The Vegan Treatory has a well-established social media presence built from riding the wave of current social media trends. Participating in the air frying trend has unexpectedly broadcast The Vegan Treatory's cookie dough creations to a much wider audience than initially anticipated.
"We've actively embraced viral trends and harnessed them to explore exciting growth opportunities within the industry," said van der Merwe.
Van der Merwe elaborated that her approach toward social media is creating unique, eye-catching content across various social media platforms. For example, through social media, The Vegan Treatory has introduced and developed recipes that showcase its cookie dough as a versatile ingredient for making everything from cookie dough-stuffed pancakes to cookie dough-stuffed baked apples in air fryers.
The overwhelmingly positive reaction to baking the cookie dough in an air fryer has resulted in updates to future packaging to ensure it includes air fryer cooking instructions, helping customers to get perfect results every time.
Moving into 2024, The Vegan Treatory and its team anticipate the most significant challenges the grocery will face are centred around sustainability, supply chain disruptions, and changing consumer preferences. In addressing these challenges, van der Merwe said she was committed to sourcing ingredients sustainably, optimising the Vegan Treatory's supply chain to maximise efficiency and attuning to consumer demands by consistently introducing new, novel, exciting flavours product lines.
