Ben and Ann Clarke examine cookie cutter designs. Photo courtesy of Ann Clarke Ltd.Ann Clark enjoyed baking cookies, but grew tired of the same old cookie cutter shapes in her Rutland kitchen. Wanting to create her own designs, she commissioned a cookie cutter manufacturer to make a “fat, little piggy,” and the manufacturer was blown away by her drawings.That’s where she got the idea to start creating her own line of cookie cutters. “I used to do craft shows with things that I had painted and made, and it just sort of morphed into designing some cookie cutters, because I love to bake,” Clark said. “It just took off.”Since she started creating cookie cutters in her home with the help of her late husband in 1989, the business Ann Clark Ltd. has grown to be the largest cookie cutter manufacturer in the United States. READ MORE Ben Clark, CEO of Ann Clark Ltd. and Ann’s son, said that he moved back to Vermont to help out with the business in the late 1990s and eventually took over operations of the company when Ann retired. Sitting down for an interview as the end of year boom of sales slowed down, Ben Clark said that one great part of his work is that his family’s creations can bring people together during the holiday for cooking and celebrations. “It’s taking my mom’s art and putting it in people’s kitchens, which is fantastic.”As the business shifted towards the wholesale and custom market in the late 1990s, its first big custom order was with Pilsbury, Ben Clark said. Ann Clark Ltd. has also worked with colleges for custom mascot designs and stores such as Williams Sonoma and Bed, Bath & Beyond, he said. In the mid-aughts, the Clarks started selling online directly to consumers which allowed the business to expand internationally, now serving customers in 19 countries. Sales swelled during the Covid-19 pandemic, as people looked to activities based in the home, like baking, and the Clark family took the leap to expand their product line to other baking goods like food coloring, dessert mixes and baking supplies. “With Covid, what’s happened is more and more people are entertaining at home, so dinner parties are much more popular,” said Ben Clark. “People like great food. They want to serve great food. They want to eat great food. They want food that looks great. They want it to be fun to make. They want it to taste great, and we’re trying to keep feeding into that market.”In 2021, Ann Clark Ltd. built a facility for food coloring creation, and just this year, the family built another food safe room for dry goods, like mixes for making cookies, cakes, waffles and other treats as they expand into the “dessert world.”“We’re now looking at other consumables,” said Ben Clark. “We look at it as gourmet at home.”Ann Clark Ltd. has stayed competitive in the international market by creating smaller batches of products more frequently in order to prevent waste and pivot more quickly to consumer desires, according to Ben Clark. Ann Clarke Ltd. Manufacturing Facilties. Photo courtesy of Ann Clarke Ltd.While Ann Clark Ltd. manufactures about 4 millions cookie cutters a year, Ben Clark said the company only makes 700 cookie cutter designs at a time at its facilities in Rutland. He attributed the business’ ability to broaden its product offerings to other dessert products to employing lean manufacturing and an economically sustainable business model. “It’s also allowed us to enter these new markets,” said Ben Clark. “We’re able to try products. We have a lot of products that are successful. We also have a lot of products that are failures, but we didn’t make that many of them, so we can experiment and be really flexible.”Ben Clarke displays food coloring products. Photo courtesy of Ann Clarke Ltd.The Clarks say they focus on quality over quantity and are proud that their products are all made in Vermont with the help of 35 employees.“Everything we sell, we want to be able to make ourselves,” said Ben Clark. “We like guaranteed quality. We like the flexibility, because you have to be able to deliverAs the company grows, the Clarks said they are grateful that their work is focused on bringing fun and joy to people’s lives, because, as Ann Clark said, “everybody likes cookies.” Read the story on VTDigger here: How a Rutland cookie cutter manufacturer’s business snowballed .