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When speaking on Camille Walker’s Call Me CEO podcast, Crumbl Cookies co-founder Jason McGowan said he did not expect his heavily frosted, large-scale cookies to find success outside of his home base of Utah. The local popularity of sweet treats like cookies is no accident, after all — 42% of the state‘s population are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its adherents, more popularly known as Mormons, do not drink alcohol or coffee and, subsequently, are known for high rates of sugar consumption.
But Crumbl has found popularity outside of LDS-heavy enclaves, and then some. Founded in 2017 by McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley, who have served in missions for the LDS church, Crumbl Cookies now counts more than 980 locations across the country and brings in more than $1 billion in annual sales. The franchise is especially popular among Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha consumers, who document the stores’ weekly flavor drops on TikTok. Crumbl did not respond to Glossy’s request for comment.
Crumbl Cookies is also just one of many aspects of Utahn Mormon culture to reach the mainstream zeitgeist in 2024. “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” debuted on Hulu in September — it stars Provo, Utah-based “MomTok” influencers like Taylor Frankie Paul, who has 4.9 million TikTok followers. The show clocked 729 million viewing minutes in its first week. Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” which first premiered in 2020, reached a record 2 million viewers for its season 4 finale in January. Its cast includes both current and former members of the LDS church. So-called tradwife influencers like Utah-based Hannah Neeleman, a practicing LDS member better known as Ballerina Farm to her 9.8 million TikTok followers, have courted controversy and virality for promoting traditional gender roles.
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