Anyone with a passion for cookies is likely all too familiar with a specific craving and conundrum. It’s late at night, you’re dying to sink your teeth into a fresh-baked cookie, still warm from the oven—but sadly, no stores are open, and you don’t have the ingredients (or the motivation) to whip up a batch.

Since fast-growing bakery chain Insomnia Cookies arrived on the scene, such sweet-toothed consumers need not worry about that specific craving going unfulfilled. The company, which started out as a small operation putting still-warm bakery treats into the hands of hungry college student, has expanded to other areas across the country, selling in its shops and delivering to homes into the wee hours. To learn more about the company’s origin story, growth trajectory, and future plans, we connected with Seth Berkowitz, CEO and founder of Insomnia Cookies.

Liz Parker Kuhn: Can you talk about the origins of Insomnia and why it was started? 

Seth Berkowitz: Insomnia Cookies was founded in 2003 when I dreamed up the idea for the late-night bakery while working towards my economics degree at The University of Pennsylvania. Inspired by the lack of late-night sweet options, I decided to bake cookies for friends and fellow students, imagining a business that catered to delivering crave-worthy, comfort cookies when consumers desire it most. Since its founding, the company has transformed from a college dorm-room idea into a globally scaling omni-channel bakery brand that satisfies those indulgent cravings wherever and whenever they hit.

LPK: What products did it initially start off making?

SB: When I founded Insomnia Cookies at the University of Pennsylvania, my menu offerings included brownies and classic cookie flavors like Chocolate Chunk, Mint Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, and M&MS with additional toppings available for purchase.

In 2006, Insomnia Cookies expanded its menu offerings for the first time to build on craveable indulgence, including new, deluxe cookie flavors like Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Triple Chocolate Chunk, as well as ice cream sandwiches. We also experimented by selling cookies via food trucks at various locations near college campuses.

LPK: What is your best-selling product or flavor?

SB: Insomnia’s best-selling flavor goes back to our roots and core identity: the Classic Chocolate Chunk.

LPK: Have there been any shifts over the years in your most popular products/flavors?

SB: While we continue to evolve our menu items through limited-time offerings and vegan/gluten-free options, our Insomniacs continue to reach for our emotionally comforting Classic cookies, making up a majority of our sales in every channel.

LPK: Do you have a consumer taste panel? If not, how do you choose new flavors, or predict what will be popular?

SB: In 2024, Insomnia Cookies debuted our new global headquarters—the “Imagine What’s Possible Center” (IWP)—in Philadelphia, which includes an innovation center, where our employees shape the future of Insomnia Cookies’ products. Cookie creations developed at the new HQ are rolled out at the ground-level Insomnia Cookies Flagship Bakery, where consumers can indulge in Insomnia’s menu while being fully immersed in the innovative cookie creation process. This experience includes testing brand-new flavors, products, and concepts to have our most loyal fanbase actively participate in shaping the future menu of innovation.

LPK: How do you come up with some of your more interesting consumer initiatives, such as the “It’s Not You, It’s Me” promotion for Valentine’s Day?

SB: Our unwavering commitment to our core identity—delivering warm, delicious cookies crafted for the moment—has been the foundation for our approach to limited-time offerings. We continuously listen and follow the life cycle of our Insomniacs to learn what their new cravings are and how we can capitalize on them through innovation, balancing our nostalgic classic flavors with trend-forward ideas.

LPK: How has the company grown, especially in the past few years?

SB: The late-night bakery first expanded its international footprint to Canada and the U.K. in the summer of 2023. Since then, we continue to open new bakeries in these markets to grow our reach, one storefront at a time.

2024 was a year of many milestones for Insomnia Cookies. We opened our record number of stores in a year and opened our 300^th bakery worldwide to reach more Insomniacs than ever before. We also debuted the IWP Center and Flagship Bakery in Philadelphia, and expanded our portfolio to include transit centers with the opening of bakeries in the heart of New York’s Penn Station and Washington D.C.’s Union Station.

LPK: Krispy Kreme acquired a majority stake in the company and then sold it in 2024. Did that affect the company?

SB: Following a very successful five-year partnership with Krispy Kreme, the company sold its majority stake in Insomnia Cookies to focus on its core strategy of producing, selling, and distributing fresh doughnuts daily. In June of 2025, we announced that Verlinvest and Mistral Equity Partners have increased their investment in the company by acquiring Krispy Kreme’s stake, further strengthening their commitment to Insomnia Cookies’ future, serving as a pivotal moment in accelerating our growth trajectory.

LPK: The majority stake was sold to Verlinvest and Mistral Equity Partners; are they still the majority shareholders? If so, how have they supported Insomnia through its growth?

With strong financial performance, a loyal customer base, and growing demand for our crave-worthy offerings, we are united with Verlinvest and Mistral Equity Partners, under this increased investment as majority shareholders, to continue serving as the undisputed leader in the indulgence category. Insomnia is poised to rapidly scale, backed by an industry-leading economic model, a passionate cult-like following, and a powerful omni-channel strategy.

LPK: What makes the company stand out from other cookie stores?

SB: Today, there are a lot more dessert offerings then when our business first started in 2003. Indulgence foods as a category itself is booming and Insomnia Cookies was leading way before any of the hype. We’re designed to literally and figuratively deliver warm, delicious cookies where and whenever people crave them. We are unwavering on who we are and who we’ve been over the past two plus decades with an unmatched obsession for cookie quality and deliciousness that keeps our loyal customers satisfied and unlocks relevancy with each new generation. Our unparalleled reach and operational edge redefine the possibility of delivering warm, delicious cookies at scale and being there when our customers’ cravings hit hardest. Our most recent partnership with Rocket Arena is a perfect example of how we can unlock new points of distribution while still delivering on our promise of warm, delicious cookies.

LPK: The company does a lot of tie-ins, such as with TV shows like Agatha All Along and the movie M3GAN 2.0; are there more planned for 2025/2026?

SB: In all brand partnerships, we strive to tap into new categories to expand our customer base—collaborating with iconic entertainment moments that provide opportunities to re-enforce our credentials in cookies, brookies, and ice cream. For the release of Universal Pictures’ M3GAN 2.0 this past summer, we collaborated with their team to create a limited-time menu collection and nationwide activations for consumers—marking our fourth big-screen partnership to date.

We’ll be closely following entertainment trends in the future that align with our brand to continue activating on collaborations that will widen our reach to Insomniacs across the globe.

LPK: Can you speak about the personnel on your team?

SB: To support our long-term global growth ambitions, we’ve strengthened our executive leadership team to ensure alignment across all verticals of the company to help reach our vision. Our smart, ambitious team of true Insomniacs builds a resilient organization that can adapt to change while staying true to our brand’s mission.

Recently, we’ve added a trio of seasoned leaders as we strive for unparalleled reach across the U.S. and beyond:

• Brent Chu, chief financial officer: With an extensive background in consumer goods and retail finance from companies such as PepsiCo, Ferrara Candy Company, and La Colombe, Chu is spearheading Insomnia's financial growth strategy.
• Katie Seawell, chief marketing officer: A marketing executive with vast experience at top CPG and retail brands such as Starbucks, Seawell leads brand strategy, customer experience, and go-to-market initiatives as Insomnia enters new markets.
• Stephanie Boughner, chief people officer: Boughner brings deep expertise in talent development and organizational culture from her experience at Curio Wellness, Aramark, and Talent Solutions TAPFIN, focusing on building a strong foundation for long-term success.

LPK: What’s next for the brand in late 2025 and early 2026?

SB: As always, we’ll continue to innovate with new limited-time flavors throughout the holiday season. We’ll also continue to offer new packaging options for our products to provide a more personalized experience for our Insomniacs, as well as test new delivery features that will optimize our promise of warm, delicious, delivered. The late-night bakery will continue our expansion into arena partnerships across the country to tap into new consumer markets. In December, the late-night bakery has plans to open 17 new bakeries across the U.S. and beyond, the most stores opened in a month in company history to continue our growth trajectory.

LPK: Any new products/flavors upcoming you can share?

SB: As we’ve always done, we’ll continue to capitalize on key moments of time for the brand (holidays, National Cookie Day, etc.) to create experiences for our Insomniacs that are authentic to the brand through limited-time offerings, all while being true to who we are and our DNA by serving warm, delicious cookies. We encourage fans to stay up to date on menu offerings by visiting insomniacookies.com and following us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok.

LPK: Where do you see Insomnia five years from now from a sales, marketing, and operational perspective?

SB: Insomnia is on path to explosive growth, while achieving double-digit annual revenue increases and robust profit expansion through both organic growth and new store openings. The late-night bakery aims to scale to 1,800 bakeries in the next decade to reach more Insomniacs than ever before. By expanding into new channels, such as new arena partnerships and transit stations, Insomnia is building its global footprint one market at a time. By growing 20% of our footprint year over year, we have plans to continue leading the craveable indulgence category by growing one of the most precise operational models in multi-channel food retail. SF&WB