Back in the Dough

The company’s guarantee cuts no corners. It pledges that if you’re aren’t 100 percent satisfied with the freshness, quality and/or presentation of your gift, it’ll do whatever it takes to make it right, including reshipping the order.

On its peak days during the holiday season, Mrs. Fields’ bakes about 40,000 cookies an hour and will ship about 35,000 packages a day. Unlike in the past, the company’s quality control measures are such that every cookie must be of acceptable quality. The company now employs a director of quality who’s empowered to take any product, at any time, in any state, and throw it away if it isn’t good enough. According to Berglund, that person can take an entire rack of cookies and roll it off the back of the dock and say, “Start over, this wasn’t good enough.”