“From the time Dr. Shica (Dr. Shica’s Bakery, Los Angeles) got her first Easy-Bake Oven, she knew that she loved to bake. Growing up in South Carolina, she baked with her grandma and learned that the best desserts come from using the best ingredients. When Dr. Shica founded her bakery, she committed to using only high-quality, premium ingredients to create her gourmet signature desserts.”
“From a small town in the South to Southern California, Dr. Shica now delivers her Southern-style treats to Hollywood executives and actors. Her rich and fudgy "Almost Famous Brownies" have created quite a stir - several Hollywood notables even have a standing weekly order.”
“Dr. Shica knew she needed to expand her baked goods to meet the growing demand for vegan treats. She developed a line of mouth-watering, plant-based desserts that satisfy those sweet cravings and allow her customers to maintain their vegan lifestyles.”
Dr Shica’s cookies are currently available nationwide at TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. Select area Costco stores for Roadshows (Culver City) are on the future horizon. “Known for her optimism and warm personality, Dr. Shica’s home-baked flavor will brighten any day.”
“Dr. Shica’s new Plant-Based cookies are dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and low calorie but still very delicious and highly craveable. Each bag is shelf stable and resealable so you can enjoy them now or later. The product comes in 4 flavors (Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Lemon and Sugar Confetti).”
Dr. Shica gently puts down her whisk and continues with us.
This is Tristan Beeman of the Wine Exchange in Santa Ana. You're listening to a spectacular vintage year in Food News. SoCal Restaurant Show. Cheers. And welcome back. It is the SoCal Restaurant Show and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon right here on AM 830 K-L-A-A. The home of Angels Baseball 2024. It can also catch us on the AM 830 Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the Executive Producer and Co-host of the show. And we're enthusiastically presented to you each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce. We're picking up our conversation with Baker, Dr. Sheikah Little of Dr. Sheikah's Bakery in Los Angeles, started locally, attracted a lot of attention, developed a very tasty line of snack cookies that happen to be plant-based, and now are in national distribution with some more exciting things about to happen. Dr. Sheikah, please present the line of snack cookies to us in terms of what all of your flavor variations are. OK, Andrew. So we have four flavors of our delicious snack cookies that are chocolate chips, oatmeal raisins, confetti, sugar, and lemon. All four flavors are equally delicious. All of them are dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, zero cholesterol, lactose intolerant, and, again, super delicious and full of flavor. Now, Dr. Sheikah, for some of our listeners that might not be familiar with what a confetti cookie is, give us a little bit of the visual there because we don't want anybody to miss out. OK, so a confetti cookie is like a sugar cookie that's very similar to like a vanilla wafer. So it has like a burst of vanilla and a little bit of sprinkles in there with the confetti. So that's why we call it like a confetti sugar cookie. I love this cookie because I'm a heavy coffee drinker. And if I want something light and, you know, like a white snack, you know, one cookie is 40 calories. Add it with my coffee and I don't have to feel bad about it. Dr. Sheikah, I like it. Now, in terms of the regular pack of the snack cookies, about how many cookies are in each package? OK, so about every package has about 12 cookies in there per package. And so there's 12 nice sized cookies. But again, you don't have to eat the whole bag at one time if you want to pace yourself. But, you know, if you don't have that self-control, then just close the bag really quickly. Yeah, no, I don't think you have to worry about too many leftovers, Dr. Sheikah. But, hey, you know, excuse me, discipline sometimes comes into effect. Now, what's really wonderful, Dr. Sheikah, that we want to share with our audience, you currently are in national distribution. So all of these cookies can be procured from your website. But in addition to that, you are available in three very big national retailers with some other things about to happen. But right now, nationwide, where can our listeners find the line of Dr. Sheikah's snack cookies? Yeah, so I'm so glad you asked because we are just announcing, like right now, you're breaking this news, Andrew. But yeah, we haven't told anybody else yet. But anyway, we are celebrating. He's getting back home to Denmark. So all stores across the country, including Canada as well. So we're in over 4,100 stores and we are so excited about this opportunity. Dr. Sheikah, I don't think you're going to be getting too much sleep. That's a lot of stores and a lot of coverage. And you're still out there demonstrating, correct? Yes, we had a great event a couple of days ago at the NFL headquarters over there. So by stadium, we were able to interact with employees and get out samples and people just really love the snacks that we provided. I love it and that's a great venue. Now, something else that Southern Californians can really relate to, Dr. Sheikah, that's about to happen. Tell us what you can at this point about Costco because that's a retailer we're all familiar with. And, you know, there happens to be a Costco store in my home neighborhood. Yes, we love Costco and Costco is coming up. So that's another exciting point that we wanted to share with you is next month, we're going to be doing the Roadshow at Costco. And it's that Costco in Culver City. That Culver City Costco is the number one selling Costco in Southern California. It's super busy, but what's interesting is we'll be there. We'll have samples of every product that you can try. And then we have some special pricing for Costco members. And so that's going to be an opportunity that if you haven't tried our safety, you can try it before you buy it. Well, and the one thing we love, Dr. Sheikah, about Costco is all the sampling opportunities they have going on because you can get some really good taste of food at Costco. So I just love the whole proposition. You know, Dr. Sheikah, the only challenge about that Costco store there in Culver City is the little border of Marina Del Rey. At busy times there, good luck finding a parking place. So when you tell me that that is the number one in the system, that doesn't surprise me based on personal observation. And what's really funny is, is when they originally built that center, there was also a very forlorn Albertson store that was part of that center. I guess the Albertsons people thought that, you know, people would buy bulk at Costco and then they would come to Albertsons to buy individual packages of things. You know, they'd get spill over. Well, Dr. Sheikah, you know about retail. And, you know, that didn't happen. So they actually tore down that Albertsons, believe it or not, to add parking for that Costco and there's still not enough parking. Oh yeah, no, no, I mean, so, you know, that's, I mean, that really is unbelievable. And of course, sadly, Albertsons is up for sale right now and, you know, it may merge with a much larger supermarket company. But anyway, Costco isn't merging and Costco is expanding. But again, you know, that store is absolutely phenomenal. So when those roadshow dates are set, I'll get that information with you and share it with our audience because I know we have a lot of listeners that are in the South Bay and Culver City area and that would kind of be a fun opportunity to better get to know your product. Now, Dr. Sheikah, there are other exciting things that are happening with you as a rising entrepreneur. You are soon going to Dubai. Okay, you got to tell us about what's happening in Dubai. Oh my gosh, so first off, I just got my passport earlier this year. Can you believe that? I've never got a passport. And if someone looks like you know what, you're getting ready to go international. You need to have a passport. So I'm glad I prepared myself earlier this year and actually Dubai was always like a brain sitting on my list to go to. But then I was just recently invited to be on the expert speaker panel at the highest end, Middle East, so in Dubai. And that show is the largest snacky queen and snacky show in the Middle East. Yes. That is going to be quite an experience, Dr. Sheikah. Now, do you take some cookies along to give away? What can you do? Yes. Okay. So I'll be sharing our cookies over there. We'll be doing samples there. And then my topic is basically talking about, you know, plant-based snacky vegan, you know, health companies to make sure that they focus on delicious and flavor. So it's like perfectly aligned with our purpose. But then also we're able to need other retailers over on that side of the world as well as, you know, get samples and also sell. We have opportunities to sell as well. So maybe buy enough in Dubai one day. So, Dr. Sheikah, you know, domestic is not... U.S. and Canada is not enough. You're also looking into the Middle East and beyond. So we love that. Now, more locally, of course, your product is now available in Canada. And the Canadians are big on plant-based items. You also have a speaking opportunity coming up in Canada. Tell us a little bit about that. Yes. So we were selected into the minority supplier program at the Trade Show event that's going to be happening in Labor Day, New Year, and in Canada. And then we'll also open up some additional opportunities for additional retailers that are seeking plant-based products. And also specifically to help minority businesses as well. And we're looking forward to that easily as well. Got to love it. Now, Dr. Sheikah, was this the third year that you did the Natural Products Expo West or the second year? I've lost count. No, this is our second year. So last year was our first year, and then this year was our second year. Now, before we need to say goodbye, kind of explain to our listeners, if you will, in terms of the Natural Products Expo West. Who do you see that comes by your booth that is sampling your cookies that otherwise you would never be able to get close to them at all? Wow. Well, I mean, if you know how hard it is to reach any buyer, they're untraceable. Yes, indeed. Personally, the person even exists, I mean, they stop here their email. They don't hear their phone numbers. So good luck trying to do that. So, but hey, for West, it's a great opportunity because the buyers are coming by your table. Not only are they coming by, a lot of times they'll try the product first just to see if they like it. And then they'll say, "Hey, I'm from Washington," or "Hi, I'm from P.J. Tech." But it's kind of like, you know, you got to be able to get that foot traffic. You know, one of those key things I would say about the West is you need a premium location. This year, we were in a great location. We were in the hot product station, which is a great place for us because it's for up-and-coming new products. The first year we were in the West, we were in a more established area. The traffic was good, but the hot product section that we had this year was like amazing. So, we got to have the right location within it, so West, but that is where we met. So, that is where we met P.J. Mac, Parker, and all the other retailers that we're discussing right now. We met them all at 8 for West. You know, definitely something to take notice of. And it's obviously a very intensive three days being there. And as you say, you know, sometimes you don't know who you're talking to. And that might be the buyer from Costco, one of the big supermarket chains. So, in essence, you know, you have to size people up pretty quickly, and you got to be on all the time. So, it's rewarding, I know. But, Dr. Sheik, after those three days, you have to also have been exhausted. Oh, yes, absolutely, but then you know, it's awarded the end of the three days. You have someone like Andrew who comes by. I can't tell one of your fan favorites. I could just say Andrew. Well, again, Dr. Sheik is, we need to say goodbye. You know, we support aspiring entrepreneurs that are doing something special and have the right business practices. And it's so rewarding for us to see folks like you do well. So, definitely enjoyed Dubai. We want to hear about that. But, I will see you at Costco before then. And, as we need to say goodbye, one more time for the Dr. Sheikah website where our listeners can get all the information on all the Dr. Sheikah products. Awesome. So, our website is www.bacory.com. That's B-R-S-H-I-C-A-S-Bacory.com. Very good. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Sheikah Little. It is Dr. Sheikah's Bakery based here in Los Angeles, but now with national distribution of this wonderful line of plant-based snack cookies. You are listening to the SoCal Restaurant Show. When a return, it is the mayor's table in Lido House in Newport Beach. Quite a wonderful destination restaurant. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Produce. We'll be back before you know it.
