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Crumbl makes huge announcement after unsponsored pop-up store sparked outrage in Australia

A.Kim2 hr ago
Famous US bakery Crumbl will open in Australia off a wave of excitement after an unsponsored pop-up store sold its cookies in Sydney .

The cookie chain announced the expansion on Monday, just weeks after people queued for up to an hour for the pop-up store in North Bondi.

'The team at Crumbl has been amazed by the support of fans in Australia over recent weeks,' a statement from the company reads.

'Crumbl has been inspired to accelerate plans to provide all dessert-loving Aussies, with a true Crumbl experience.'

The company assured that global expansion wouldn't mean it waivers from 'its core values of experience, relationships, authenticity, and innovation'.

'With each new location, Crumbl aims to create a warm and inviting atmosphere where people from all walks of life can come together to enjoy freshly baked desserts and create lasting memories,' the statement reads.

'Crumbl is thrilled to expand its mission of gathering friends and family over the best desserts in the world to Aussie fans!'

The plan would make Australia the fourth country Crumble operates out of with over 1,000 locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The company also took a shot at the pop-up controversy on a new Instagram account dedicated for its upcoming Australian store.

'Aussies, we heard you loud and clear. The REAL Crumbl is coming soon,' the caption on the account's first post reads.

Aussies who lined up for up to an hour for the pop-up discovered that the Crumbl cookies cost a whopping $17.50 each or $75 for five.

A number of customers expressed dismay at the price, with a packet of four cookies costing just $21 in the US, with it emerging the store was run by Crumbl 'fans' who brought the baked goods back from Hawaii .

A Year 10 student was revealed to be the mastermind behind the pop-up with the revelation fuelling further rage.

Crumbl founders previously told the ABC they had no intention of taking legal action.

'While the pop-up in Australia was not sponsored by Crumbl, we love seeing excitement for Crumbl around the world,' a statement from the company said.

Despite the store being promoted on a TikTok account called crumblcookiesyd, which boasted the same pink branding as the US company, the boy and his family said they never claimed to be an official outlet, but were 'passionate fans'.

'This event was never about profit,' they said.

'We aimed to bring the cookies to Crumbl fans. Importing and reselling is called parallel imports. Parallel imports are legal.

'We followed all legal procedures, declaring the cookies as commercial goods and obtaining the necessary approvals from Australian customs.

'We hope this clears up any confusion. Thank you to those who supported us and gave us valuable feedback.'

A parallel import is an item bought overseas to be sold in Australia where the reseller doesn't have the permission of those behind the product.

This remains legal as long as the items are not represented as being sold by the maker or an affiliate of them.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the organisers made any such representation.

With the cookies having been bought days earlier in the US, a number of those complained about their quality.

'This is actually very bad,' TikTok food reviewer Hamze said.

'It's so sweet, the texture is just weird, it's so sugary - I feel like I'm just eating sugar.'

The pop-up store organisers defended themselves on TikTok.

'We never claimed to be an official Crumbl store. This was clearly stated in bio and our comments,' they said.

'Our goal was to bring the authentic Crumbl cookies to Australia by importing the cookies directly from the USA.'

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