Terra Cotta Cookies
Jason Brass, president and CEO of Terra Cotta Foods, in a warehouse full of cookies awaiting shipment across the country. The company can make as many as 250,000 cookies a day.
August 2025
A quarter million cookies a day: How a Georgetown company grew into a cookie giant
Terra Cotta Foods' cookies are everywhere, even if you don't realize it
Outside, it's a heatwave. The sun is beating down and the temperature is hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. Inside Terra Cotta Foods, it's fitting that it's an ice cream sandwich day. Sandwiches slide off a conveyor already wrapped and are gathered by some of Terra Cotta's 65 employees. The sandwiches are packed into blue boxes with an instantly recognizable logo of a Canadian company. But nowhere is there any mention of Terra Cotta.
These sandwiches might be bound for British Columbia, or they could end up in a store a couple of kilometres away. Terra Cotta supplies products to seven retailers with stores in Halton Hills and that's only the tip of the ice cream sandwich when it comes to their client list. Chances are you've eaten an ice cream sandwich or a cookie without ever knowing it was made right here in Georgetown.
This anonymous third-party production, known as private-label manufacturing, now accounts for 80 per cent of Terra Cotta's business. The local company recently signed a deal with one of Canada's largest retailers to produce cookies for its stores. And Terra Cotta Foods knows how to make cookies. A lot of cookies. It can produce as many as 250,000 cookies a day in its Armstrong Avenue location. The private label business was a focus for Jason Brass when he purchased Terra Cotta Cookies from its founders, Pat and Peter Coe. The Coes started from their kitchen before opening an industrial bakery, building a successful business supplying peanut-free cookies to 2,000 schools for fundraisers. Having grown up in Norval, Brass was familiar with Terra Cotta Cookies, so when the company became available in 2012, he purchased it.
"I really like the idea of bringing something from scratch to a retail product," Brass said. Having previously worked for a company that produced private-label pet food, Brass saw the potential for that same model with cookies and muffins. He landed the company's first private-label contract a couple of years later, though it didn't go exactly to plan. Executives from a regional retailer came to Georgetown to hear Brass' proposal. "I pitched them on everything but ice cream sandwiches," Brass said. "We went on a tour of the factory and I was trying to hide that we were making ice cream sandwiches because we had no automation at all for it. So, of course, one of their senior people says, What are they making?"
That was January. Brass moved quickly to partially automate the process. By the spring, Terra Cotta had the product on the company's shelves, or its freezers in this case. Terra Cotta Foods outgrew its original Armstrong Avenue bakery, moving down the road to its current location, which has also expanded over the years to 30,000 square feet. "Most people are surprised at the scale of it," Brass said.
Terra Cotta Foods was recognized as one of Canada's fastest-growing businesses in 2019 after seeing revenue growth of 195 per cent and landed on the top 500 list again in 2020. That move into private labels may have prevented Terra Cotta from becoming a pandemic casualty. While the school fundraising side remained an important part of the business, it ground to a halt for a couple of years. "It was a tough time," Brass said. "We were building the private label business on the strength of the school fundraisers and then COVID hit and people cancelled fundraisers. It was a trying time for Terra Cotta."
The fundraiser side has since come back and continues to grow. So does the private label side. Terra Cotta now produces 100 private-label products for 27 companies, each wanting their unique spin on a Terra Cotta creation, whether it's more chocolate chips or a softer cookie. Brass said it all starts in product development, which is almost like baking from home. From there, it's not as simple as multiplying the ingredients by 500. "It's a science - baking chemistry," Brass says. "From the size of the batch, to different ovens, a lot of things change. You have to run a plant trial, tweak the recipe a little until you get back to that cookie you had (in product development)."
Some retailers have shown interest in carrying Terra Cotta branded cookies, but for now the company carries on, quietly expanding its cookie empire.
A quarter million cookies a day: How a Georgetown company grew into a cookie giant
Terra Cotta Foods' cookies are everywhere, even if you don't realize it
Outside, it's a heatwave. The sun is beating down and the temperature is hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. Inside Terra Cotta Foods, it's fitting that it's an ice cream sandwich day. Sandwiches slide off a conveyor already wrapped and are gathered by some of Terra Cotta's 65 employees. The sandwiches are packed into blue boxes with an instantly recognizable logo of a Canadian company. But nowhere is there any mention of Terra Cotta.
These sandwiches might be bound for British Columbia, or they could end up in a store a couple of kilometres away. Terra Cotta supplies products to seven retailers with stores in Halton Hills and that's only the tip of the ice cream sandwich when it comes to their client list. Chances are you've eaten an ice cream sandwich or a cookie without ever knowing it was made right here in Georgetown.
This anonymous third-party production, known as private-label manufacturing, now accounts for 80 per cent of Terra Cotta's business. The local company recently signed a deal with one of Canada's largest retailers to produce cookies for its stores. And Terra Cotta Foods knows how to make cookies. A lot of cookies. It can produce as many as 250,000 cookies a day in its Armstrong Avenue location. The private label business was a focus for Jason Brass when he purchased Terra Cotta Cookies from its founders, Pat and Peter Coe. The Coes started from their kitchen before opening an industrial bakery, building a successful business supplying peanut-free cookies to 2,000 schools for fundraisers. Having grown up in Norval, Brass was familiar with Terra Cotta Cookies, so when the company became available in 2012, he purchased it.
"I really like the idea of bringing something from scratch to a retail product," Brass said. Having previously worked for a company that produced private-label pet food, Brass saw the potential for that same model with cookies and muffins. He landed the company's first private-label contract a couple of years later, though it didn't go exactly to plan. Executives from a regional retailer came to Georgetown to hear Brass' proposal. "I pitched them on everything but ice cream sandwiches," Brass said. "We went on a tour of the factory and I was trying to hide that we were making ice cream sandwiches because we had no automation at all for it. So, of course, one of their senior people says, What are they making?"
That was January. Brass moved quickly to partially automate the process. By the spring, Terra Cotta had the product on the company's shelves, or its freezers in this case. Terra Cotta Foods outgrew its original Armstrong Avenue bakery, moving down the road to its current location, which has also expanded over the years to 30,000 square feet. "Most people are surprised at the scale of it," Brass said.
Terra Cotta Foods was recognized as one of Canada's fastest-growing businesses in 2019 after seeing revenue growth of 195 per cent and landed on the top 500 list again in 2020. That move into private labels may have prevented Terra Cotta from becoming a pandemic casualty. While the school fundraising side remained an important part of the business, it ground to a halt for a couple of years. "It was a tough time," Brass said. "We were building the private label business on the strength of the school fundraisers and then COVID hit and people cancelled fundraisers. It was a trying time for Terra Cotta."
The fundraiser side has since come back and continues to grow. So does the private label side. Terra Cotta now produces 100 private-label products for 27 companies, each wanting their unique spin on a Terra Cotta creation, whether it's more chocolate chips or a softer cookie. Brass said it all starts in product development, which is almost like baking from home. From there, it's not as simple as multiplying the ingredients by 500. "It's a science - baking chemistry," Brass says. "From the size of the batch, to different ovens, a lot of things change. You have to run a plant trial, tweak the recipe a little until you get back to that cookie you had (in product development)."
Some retailers have shown interest in carrying Terra Cotta branded cookies, but for now the company carries on, quietly expanding its cookie empire.