Douglas Sweets has achieved a major milestone this month: the women-owned Scottish shortbread company is celebrating ten years in business. Founded in the Green Mountains of Vermont by Debra Townsend, Douglas Sweets started in Townsend’s home kitchen, distributing to local co-ops and independent markets. Today Douglas Sweets operates out of a 1,200 square foot bakery facility and distributes to shortbread fans across the country. The traditional Scottish shortbread cookies are sold in more than 200 stores nationwide in addition to Douglas Sweets’ online store that ships throughout the United States.
“The past ten years have been filled with both challenges and successes for our small business, and we are forever grateful for the continued support we see each day,” said Townsend. “We are shamelessly proud of our product and intentionally deliberate with all of our choices from our ingredients to our packaging to our retailers. In 2021 we achieved our longtime goal of going nationwide through our retailers and our online store, which wouldn’t have been possible without all of the shortbread lovers out there who support our business. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us!”
Over the past decade, Douglas Sweets has grown leaps and bounds as a company:
- In order to keep up with product demand, the business scaled up from an at-home bakery to a state-of-the-art commercial bakery facility in Shelburne, Vermont where it operates today.
- Expanded its online store to ship more than 25 products anywhere in the United States, and expanded its retail distribution to include over 200 stores in 41 states across the country.
- Tested hundreds of new recipes and launched a new product line featuring a more buttery, crisp shortbread texture reflective of traditional Scottish shortbread and seven new shortbread flavors.
- Introduced a new logo and new packaging designed by young female artist Leyre San Miguel. The intent of the rebrand was to celebrate Douglas Sweets’ evolution as a company and convey the origins, core value and identity of the business. Each flavor of shortbread features resealable packaging with a unique color and original artwork.
The idea for Douglas Sweets was sparked in 2010 when Townsend put her cherished family shortbread recipe to work to create homemade Christmas gifts for friends and family. For the first few years, Townsend worked out of her home kitchen to distribute shortbread to local co-ops and independent markets in her county. In 2016, Townsend’s daughter, Hannah Townsend Allain, joined the business as co-owner and the pair worked tirelessly to move the business into a brand new bakery facility. Since then, the small but mighty team has focused on scaling up their baking process, creating unique and delicious products and taking on new retail customers across the country.
To learn more about Douglas Sweets or to find out where its products are sold near you, visit DouglasSweets.com.
About Douglas Sweets
Founded in 2012, Douglas Sweets is a Scottish shortbread company based in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The women-owned business made up of a mother-daughter duo has introduced traditional Scottish shortbread with a unique twist of chocolate, spice and exciting flavors. Using a family recipe perfected in the 1950’s paired with high-grade local ingredients, Douglas Sweets creates delicious products intended to be enjoyed with friends and family. http://www.douglassweets.com @douglassweets