From Great Grandma's Cookies to Growing Business
How does a growing startup company keep it’s unique identity? For Thelma’s Treats, it’s all about being intentional.
“I want to see Thelma’s in every store and every single freezer, but not at the cost of Thelma’s authenticity and our story,” said Nola Morris, chief brand officer at Thelma’s Treats.
The balance between growth and staying true to your brand was one of the lessons siblings Dereck Lewis, founder & CEO, and Nola shared during a recent Entrepreneur Field Days session. Together, they took the group back to the start of their company, beginning with the foundation that their Great Grandma Thelma left for them: her Snickerdoodle cookies.
The original idea was simple: sell freshly baked cookies in oven boxes around Greater Des Moines. But when summer arrived and sales slowed, Dereck saw an opportunity to try something different. He added ice cream between two of Great Grandma Thelma’s cookies, creating the ice cream sandwich that would become iconic to the brand and in 2012, the first ice cream sandwich was sold at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers’ Market. Later that year, the company landed its first retail partner: Hy-Vee.
“Hy-Vee is a unique store,” Dereck explained to the group. “Each individual store has its own buying power. So, I went to the stores and pitched the product myself.”
As Thelma’s landed on more shelves, the company moved into a 17,000-square-foot facility to keep up with growing demand for its ice cream sandwiches. Then, when the pandemic hit in 2020, the business experienced some of its biggest growth yet. Thelma’s expanded its reach to stores across the United States. and earned its Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification.
The growth eventually opened the door to another opportunity: co-manufacturing. Starting in 2023, the company started producing private-label products for other brands, including Buc-ee's, which has become a major partner.
In 2024, the siblings took another step forward with Red Scoop Manufacturing, expanding their production capabilities and creating additional opportunities to manufacture products for clients.
But running two businesses came with its own challenges. "There have been times when we've had to figure out what to stop doing," Nola shared. Red Scoop's co-manufacturing and private label work is built to serve other brands, while Thelma's has to stay anchored to something different.
"Our brand is Thelma's — that's our great grandma, and it takes a lot of thick skin to determine what decisions to make for our brand because we want to stick to our roots," Nola said.
Those roots are guiding the brand's next chapter: increasing velocity within Thelma's current retail footprint and reaching as many grocery shoppers as possible with an authentic, delicious product. On the manufacturing side, Red Scoop is focused on growing the frozen novelty category, with industry-leading capabilities that are attracting more and more national brands to its Des Moines facility.
Looking to the future, Dereck said he has several goals for the company and the Greater Des Moines region, including bringing more manufacturing talent to the area. Having the right talent in the region will be an important piece of that growth.
Interested in growing your business in Greater Des Moines? Explore the Greater Des Moines Partnership's resources and programs designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses.