Our latest Happy Crumb Bakery interview is out! Founder Grant Marshall-Koper recently spoke to Hospitality Review about the journey from baking cookies in a home kitchen to building an independent London bakery, including the setbacks, unexpected opportunities and people who have helped shape the business.
Published under the title How to Bake Happiness, the interview explores the early days of Happy Crumb, our love of dessert-inspired cookies, life behind the scenes and what we’re working towards next.
We’re delighted to share the feature and would like to thank Ima von Wenden and Hospitality Review for the opportunity to tell our story.
Read the full Happy Crumb Bakery interview in Hospitality Review →
For those discovering us for the first time, here are five moments from our journey so far.
1. From the stage to the bakery
Happy Crumb began in 2024, although founder Grant’s interest in baking goes back considerably further.
Growing up, he learnt to bake with his mum and Nan, developing a love of experimenting in the kitchen that stayed with him throughout his performing career and subsequent work in theatre management.
Eventually, that enthusiasm became a small side business.
Grant started making cookies at home, testing recipes and selling his early batches to friends and family.
Then the theatre where he worked agreed to stock them at its bar. Seeing members of the public buying something he had created was an exciting turning point.
What began as a hobby was beginning to look like a business.
2. A rather unexpected interruption and a fresh start
The Happy Crumb Bakery interview also explores one of the most difficult moments in our early history.
Shortly after completing major home renovations, Grant and his husband returned from a holiday to discover that a flash flood had devastated their property.
The damage was extensive. Their home needed to be gutted and rebuilt, and they were forced to move out for nine months.
As Happy Crumb was operating from their home kitchen, the business had to stop trading.
For a while, its future was uncertain.
Eventually, while preparing to return home, Grant rediscovered a box containing materials from the original bakery project. It brought back the excitement of what he had started, along with the realisation that he wanted to give the business another opportunity.
Happy Crumb returned with renewed ambition.
3. Finding our place in London’s markets
As the bakery developed, markets became an important part of building our customer base.
Selling directly to customers gave us the opportunity to understand which flavours people loved, meet regulars and introduce Happy Crumb to people who might never otherwise have discovered us.
In October 2025, Grant left his job and moved the bakery into a commercial kitchen in Battersea, increasing production capacity considerably.
It was another significant step towards establishing Happy Crumb as a commercial bakery.
Since then, we’ve traded at markets and events including Lower Marsh in Waterloo, Surrey Street in Croydon, Sydenham Night Market and the Harlow Town Show.
We also spent time on Rupert Street in Soho, serving freshly warmed cookies in the heart of the West End.
Although we loved the concept, customer footfall at that particular location was insufficient to support the pitch commercially. We ultimately decided to concentrate our efforts elsewhere.
That experience reinforced the importance of selecting the right locations, understanding customer behaviour and remaining flexible as the business develops.
The full Happy Crumb Bakery interview discusses these decisions and what we’ve learnt from them.
4. The cookies that started everything
Of course, the cookies themselves remain at the heart of Happy Crumb.
Our signature NYC-style dough was developed through plenty of recipe testing, with a particular blend of sugars and spices creating rich caramel and vanilla notes alongside our generous chocolate fillings.
As the business grew, we found our own niche in creating gourmet cookies inspired by familiar desserts.
Apple Crumble, Cherry Bakewell, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Tiramisu have all received the Happy Crumb treatment.
Apple Crumble has become a particular customer favourite. Grant once attempted to remove it from the menu, only to discover that people had rather strong opinions about its disappearance.
It’s now firmly established within the range, complete with its plant-based recipe.
Today, customers can choose from our signature and seasonal flavours, with cookie boxes available to order online for delivery across the UK.
Explore our gourmet cookie collection.
5. New ideas, Cookie Lab and the future of Happy Crumb
One of the exciting subjects covered in the Happy Crumb Bakery interview is how the business continues to develop.
We’ve recently introduced Cookie Lab, our hands-on baking and product development experience at Mission Kitchen in London.
Designed for corporate away days and group experiences, Cookie Lab invites participants into the creative process behind our products.
Teams experiment with flavour combinations, develop their own cookies, bake their creations and present their finished concepts, with some friendly competition along the way.
We recently introduced a shorter version at a Mission Kitchen networking event, where participants enjoyed experimenting with ingredients and sharing their ideas.
Discover our Cookie Lab experience.
We’re also developing Crumb Supply, our dedicated wholesale bakery brand, created to supply cookies and other bakery products to cafés, hospitality businesses and independent retailers.
Alongside this, we’ll continue developing our online range, corporate gifting, branded cookies and event offerings.
Our ambition is to build a sustainable business with a brilliant team behind it, while continuing to create products that people genuinely enjoy.
Read the full interview in Hospitality Review
We’re grateful to Hospitality Review for sharing our story and giving us the opportunity to reflect on how far the business has come.
The full Happy Crumb Bakery interview explores our founder’s theatrical background, the flood that interrupted the original business, the realities of running an independent bakery and the experiences that have helped shape Happy Crumb.
Grant also discusses the importance of creating a welcoming and inclusive business, the people who make it possible and his ambitions for the next five years.
Read How to Bake Happiness: The Full Happy Crumb Bakery Interview
And to everyone who has supported us along the way, whether you’ve bought a cookie, visited our stall, placed an order or recommended us to somebody else, thank you.
Here’s to whatever comes out of the oven next.
Craveable. Crafted. Crumbs.
