Loria Stern started baking her flower cookies after taking a class in medicinal and edible plants back in 2011. After college at the University of Virginia, her love for food drew her to a career in the culinary arts. She didn’t get a degree in the culinary arts, she self taught herself. While living on a California estate with a lot of flowers, she began incorporating edible flowers into baked goods. While all baked goods contain flour, Loria’s are the first to contain flowers.
The flagship products are her shortbread cookies with flowers in them. They are whimsical and delicious. She also makes tarts, cakes and pies with flowers in/on them. Fans of the treats love them. All her baked goods use organic, all natural ingredients too. She even wrote a cookbook so folks can make their own flower cookies at home. On her website, she sells dried flowers you can buy to make your own cookies if you don’t feel like picking or growing them yourself.
Loria bakes and ships her flower cookies and other wares in small batches from a bakery in Los Angeles. She also operates a catering business and grows most of the flowers used in her baked goods. The business is lean but profitable now, she likely wants a Shark to fuel growth.
My Take on Flower Cookies
When I was a Boy Scout, I got my wilderness survival merit badge. One of the things we had to do is identify and eat a variety of edible plants. It’s something I hung onto through adulthood. When I lived in Massachusetts, we’d harvest fiddle head ferns every spring. You harvest them as they’re just sprouting and they literally look like fiddleheads. They have a taste and consistency like asperagus. I also like chewing on wild wintergreen leaves.
I also harvest dandelion greens and lillies for salads. The restaurant at my parents’ golf club regularly puts lillies in their salads too. I’ve never had flowers in a cookie, but I’m not adverse to trying them. Flowers and herbs are an important part of the food pyramid. While Loria’s flower cookies are more of a work of art, I’m sure they taste good too, or nobody would rave about them like they do.
Do Sharks Like Flowers?
While Loria’s goods are attractive and presumably delicious, she may have trouble in the Tank. This strikes me as a business that’s too small for an investor, unless she has HUGE sales. I’m sure the Sharks will gobble up their samples, but I’m betting Loria leaves without a deal.
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
Well, Loria left a deal! Congrats to her