Sweet Simplicity (Cover Feature)

October, 2007

Delicious product, good business sense lead Sweet Life Enterprises to growing success.

You could say that everyone wants a piece of the sweet life. And in Michael Gray’s case this desire is literally what has led to his success with the aptly named Sweet Life Enterprises Inc., Santa Ana, Calif.

The story begins 16 years ago when Michael Gray was working for his family’s high-end women’s clothing business in Irvine, Calif. For years, Gray had been so impressed by the gourmet offerings of Sweet Life, a local café bakery in Fashion Island, a shopping center in nearby Newport Beach, Calif., that he would pick the bakery as his first choice for lunch with his customers. Later, he approached Sweet Life’s owners about going into business together with multiple units.

A new business was formed, but it was rough going in the beginning. After opening additional units, Michael quickly realized the café would be difficult to scale.

Lori Gray, Michael’s wife, is Sweet Life’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“They started with a total of five cafes between Colorado and California,” she says. “After five years of not making a dime, Michael said, ‘It’s time to rethink our business strategy.’ From his experience with the cafes, he realized there was a need for a high-end gourmet cookie in the wholesale industry. That was when he began manufacturing and distributing wholesale.”

By that time it was 1995. Michael, armed with his four years of experience running the cafes and virtually no other food industry knowledge, signed up to attend a food show in Anaheim.

“Who walks by the booth but the buyer from Disneyland?” Lori deadpans. “Michael approached him in the aisle and asked for a shot to earn their business.”

The timing was perfect. Disneyland accepted the offer and still is a client today.

“To continue to supply your first client 15 years later is an honor,” Michael says.

After earning Disneyland as a client, business started to heat up. Michael opened a 50,000-square-foot frozen cookie bakery in Santa Ana. Today, that operation and a sister plant of the same size in Rialto, Calif., produce nine different frozen, fully baked gourmet cookies (pre-portioned) as well as par-baked and thaw-and-serve products. Varieties include: Chocolate Chip, Double Fudge, M&M, Macadamia White Chocolate, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter, Snickerdoodle and Sugar.

Using the confidence and energy earned from the relationship with Disneyland, Sweet Life was poised for more growth.

Lori says that Michael met a McDonald’s franchisee in 1995 and began supplying him with cookies at his one location. Soon afterward, however, McDonald’s corporate office came in and said every product being sold at McDonald’s franchises had to be pre-approved.

“The franchisee said, ‘I’ll hold on to your information and I’ll call you when the time’s right,’” Lori recalls. “Fast forward to 1998 and we were given an opportunity to present to their Southern California New Products Menu team. The presentation included product, displays and service that went with our slogan ‘More than just a cookie.’ It went well. We were given the opportunity to test in five stores in April of ’98. By December of ’98 we were into 325 restaurants, and now Sweet Life cookies are in more than 7,000 McDonald’s restaurants.”

Today, Sweet Life’s relationship with McDonald’s extends beyond cookies.

Market observations led Sweet Life to note a need for a “cinnamon-type product that also had to be transportable — easy to eat while driving,” Lori says. “We developed a cinnamon roll that we sold to high-end ski resorts. When we watched people eat it, they would unravel it. The best part is the center,” she explains.

Sweet Life experimented by taking the center of the cinnamon roll, chopping it up and putting it in a cup, and the McDonald’s Cinnamon Melt was born.

“It’s a product that can be served all day,” Lori notes. “It’s a natural for breakfast and customers love it in the afternoon especially for the senior citizen segment, as well as teenagers.”

It’s innovative ideas such as this that have led to Sweet Life’s double-digit growth each year for the past 10 years. The company’s products also are in Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants among other quick-service restaurants and fast-casual restaurants such as Uno Chicago Grill. And Sweet Life isn’t done expanding.

“We’re entering into retail this year with no. 1 U.K. retailer Tesco, which is also called Fresh & Easy here in the States. They’ve just started tapping into the U.S. They’re opening 10 stores here between the end of October through December of this year. We’re their cookie of choice,” she says.

Tesco isn’t the only retailer drawn to the sweet life. A recent trade show appearance drew attention from a family-owned distribution company, Pallas Foods, out of Ireland.

Lori concludes: “This year we had a tremendous amount of interest and we’ve been following up diligently on a lot of those leads, which is opening us up into a lot of markets.” — C.C.

Fast Facts

Sweet Life Enterprises

Location: Santa Ana, Calif.
Founded: 1991
Annual sales: Not available (privately held)
Primary product lines: Frozen and par-baked cookies, cinnamon melts
Brands: All retailer and restaurant private label
Distribution: North America, moving into European markets

For more information on Sweet Life Enterprises: 1-800-SWEET-LIFE – www.SweetLifeInc.com