Boobie Bikkies creator and lactation consultant Pinky McKay came up with the concept of lactation cookies as a way to provide extra support to exhausted mums, and through a partnership with Byron Bay Cookies, she brought the idea to life.
Boobie Bikkies have been created for recent mothers who are experiencing a low supply of breastmilk. It’s currently stocked at Chemist Warehouse and other baby stores in the country.
The best-selling author and winner of 2019 AusMumpreneur Influencer of the Year Award chatted to Inside FMCG about her business journey with daughter and partner Sarah McKay and Kim Vespa.
Inside FMCG: Tell us a bit how Boobie Bikkies came about.
Pinky McKay: As a lactation consultant visiting new mums who were exhausted, teary, struggling with low milk supply and so busy caring for their newborns they were not feeding themselves. I handed out recipes but the mums I was seeing could barely manage a shower let alone cooking foods with specialty ingredients, so creating nourishing foods that supported lactation seemed a ‘no brainer’.
We started with Lactation Cookies – easy, convenient, and nourishing cookies using lactogenic ingredients. I had made these when my own babies were small, gifted them to mum friends and called them ‘Boobie Bikkies.’ I was trying to think of a product name, talking to Siimon Reynolds, ad guru, saying, “I need a name for these Boobie Bikkies.” He looked at me and said, “You have a name!” So many people said, “You can’t use that!” We proved them all wrong, now our brand ‘Boobie Bikkies’ has almost become the ‘kleenex’ of breastfeeding cookies.
Inside FMCG: Why did you decide to partner with Byron Bay Cookie Company?
PMK: We had outgrown a previous bakery so entered into negotiations with Byron Bay Cookie Company, this has been an extremely positive relationship and now our capacity to meet production and growth is unlimited!
Inside FMCG: How did it feel when the business took home an AusMumpreneur of The Year Award recently?
PMK: It was very exciting and humbling to win the AusMumpreneur of the Year Awards – we were up against some wonderful businesses so we really couldn’t guess whether we would be placed, let alone win! It is an amazing validation of our journey and growth as a woman owned, Mum/family-friendly business (think school hours!), supporting both the women in our team and breastfeeding mums.
Inside FMCG: Was it difficult to infiltrate international markets?
PMK: With a fresh food product and a relatively short shelf life, it hasn’t been easy to infiltrate overseas markets, we are constantly refining our products, marketing and education of customers in these markets.
Inside FMCG: What are your most popular products in Australia?
PMK: Our vanilla flavoured Boobie Bikkies are hands down our most popular product here in Australia, although everyone seems to have a ‘favourite flavour’.
Inside FMCG: Tell us how did Boobie Bikkies increased revenues and profits by over 30 per cent over the last three years?
PMK: We increased revenues by careful strategic planning, increasing our number of stockists, marketing creatively and watching our numbers carefully – we are proud that we have grown with no loans, debt or investors.
Inside FMCG: Any new products in the pipeline?
PMK: We certainly have plans for new products but these are under wraps at the moment – we have just launched a delicious toasted cereal “Boobie Brekkie’ that caters to mums with food sensitivities, it’s wheat, dairy, egg, yeast and sulphate free as well as vegan and we are getting fabulous feedback.
