Live Episode! Milk Bar: Christina Tosi (2019)

How I Built This · 25 Oct 2021 · 1h 05m

What this episode covers

Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar, explains how she transitioned from a pastry cook at high-end NYC restaurants like WD50 and Momofuku to opening her own bakery in 2008 with mentor David Chang. She details the creation of iconic products like crack pie and compost cookies, which were born from improvisation and a desire to make nostalgic, unfussy desserts accessible. Tosi describes scaling the business from a single East Village location to 16 shops and a national retail presence, emphasizing her decision to keep prices low and bootstrap the company for eight years before raising outside capital. The episode highlights her operational challenges, including managing supply chains for mail-order goods and expanding production capacity to support growth.

Mentioned

Companies
WD50, Momofuku, Boule
Products
Milk Bar, Compost Cookie, Crack Pie, Cereal Milk
Also
David Chang, Anderson Cooper

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