Brownie Magic
Simply Divine Brownies became a hand-frosted phenomenon overnight. Now five years in, this mother-daughter team is taking on the never-ending challenges that come with growth.
The incredible tale of Simply Divine Brownies has been told many times, on NBC’s Today Show, Oprah, Martha Stewart, and the Food Network: Retired schoolteacher Trina Beaulier started the company with a friend, and no business experience, in 2004, “on a lark,” she says, and as “a way to get a lot of nice cookware.”
On May 6, 2005, Simply Divine had taken five or six orders from its new website, all from friends and family, when the trendsetting DailyCandy.com posted a 268-word blurb that changed her life.
“We had 500 orders by noon the next day,” Beaulier says. “We worked for a week straight, and lost money on that first round because we bought all the ingredients at the grocery store, and we bought lobster boxes to keep them refrigerated.”
The orders, and the calls—from Better Homes and Gardens, The Phantom Gourmet, and dozens of media outlets—kept coming. Simply Divine brownies sweetened the gift bags for Academy Award attendees, and at parties and events hosted by Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Muhammad Ali, and too many celebrities to list. In fact, the calls and orders have never really slowed down. And neither has Trina, or her daughter and co-owner, Meggen, who joined the company in 2005.
This summer, the Beauliers moved bakery operations to the Apple Shed in Kents Hill (where they also run the produce store and bakery, with Trina baking pies with a delectable secret crust, and cooking take-home dinners). They also opened a new retail space in Freeport, partly as a model for a potential move to franchising; they’ve signed on to provide brownies in 15 Hannaford stores in Maine and Massachusetts this fall, and they’ve deepened their relationship with Whole Foods in Portland, which sells their brownies.
“It’s going to be a busy fall,” Meggen says. “We’re going to be hitting Hannaford, gearing up for the holidays—which is our busiest time for brownies—and we’ll have leaf-peeping season in Freeport, and it will all coincide with apple season at the Apple Shed, which we expect to be crazy.”
The women are diversifying, in part, because the recession has hit their 30-employee company in one spot: corporate gifts, and especially their Image Brownies, which feature digital images of logos or photos on white frosting. At one time, corporate gifts made up a third of their business. Sales are down about 20%, but the company’s other activities have kept overall sales steady this year.
“It’s a constant challenge, getting bigger and broadening our line while producing quality, homemade brownies,” Meggen says.
The Beauliers have moved the business several times as they’ve outgrown facilities, from Trina’s kitchen to one Brunswick location, then another, then to Freeport, and now Kents Hill, balancing growth with keeping the truly artisanal nature of their products. They’ve received help from SCORE—advisor Bert Bolduc, a former Kodak executive, has met with them almost every week for five years now—the Maine Technology Institute, and the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership, to optimize production and create a cutting machine, hugely important in the razor-margined specialty foods business.
“The difference between a profit and a loss on any batch of brownies is 15 minutes,” Trina says. “So many people have helped us, usually for nothing, and I don’t think that would happen anywhere except Maine.”
Their success, and all the attention from national press with no advertising budget, comes down essentially to three things: “Have a great product and a great story,” Trina says. “The story helps you with branding, and branding is the key. And find a niche—ours is frosted and topped brownies in more than 35 flavors—that no one else does.”
As they seek wholesale opportunities and consider franchising, the Beauliers are managing growth the right way.
“Meg taught me to slow down—jump into things, yes, but jump in with your eyes open,” Trina says. “Take enough time to study what you’re doing, ask people outside your company what they think, and plan it right.”
The Freeport location, on the second floor of the Mallett House and part of the new Freeport Village Station, is just 350 square feet, scaled as a model for future franchises. Meggen says the store “buys” product from the company, and they’re keeping meticulous records to study how the model works. In 2007, Simply Divine was runner-up in Forbes magazine’s Boost Your Business Contest, for which they developed a frozen batter, hoping to win the $100,000 prize that would let them commercialize the product. It could be used in a franchise setup. The new location seems like a winner in the early going. They used to share space on Lower Main Street with Wilbur’s of Maine, and by moving a few blocks and increasing the visibility of the brand, sales were up about 300% for the first two months.
“Our customers keep finding us,” Trina says. “People still come in and say, ‘I remember when you were at Fort Andross.’ And they say, ‘I’m glad the brownies are just as good as they always were.’”
Meggen chimes in: “That’s the real secret. Every time we get bigger, we make sure we use the best ingredients, make them in small batches, and make sure they’re just as great as they always were. That’s why we still have fans..
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