GEDDES — Corso’s Cookies is collaborating with the Cornell University Department of Food Science to develop a fast-drying frosting to use in its cookie-decorating process.

Corso’s is a Geddes–based manufacturer of custom-decorated cookies and cookie bouquets.

The firm was one of four projects awarded funding through the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) JumpStart program. Empire State Development’s division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) provides funding for the program, the school said in a news release.

The program is designed to help New York small businesses develop and improve their products through university collaborations, according to the school.

Cornell awards JumpStart projects matching funds of up to $5,000 for project costs that include faculty and research staff, facilities, services, supplies, and materials.

Corso’s makes shortbread cookies that are decorated in a wide variety of designs with different colors, says Michael Ricci, Jr., director of quality at Corso’s Cookies.

The frosting is very thick and it takes time to dry, he adds.

“We must have it fully dried [on cookies] before we can wrap [them],” Ricci says.

If the frosting is still soft when Corso’s wraps the cookies, then that process will “ruin” the design, he adds.

The company partnered with Cornell’s CCMR and the department of food science “to reduce that drying time,” according to Ricci.

The less time Corso’s needs to have frosting drying, the sooner it can get cookies wrapped, labeled, and shipped to its customers, he says.

The firm believes the faster-drying frosting will speed up its ability to serve its current and future clients.

As Corso’s manufacturing operations have grown, and with its sales having doubled what they were a year ago, “the need to reduce that bottleneck” has become a priority.

“We figured if the food scientists at Cornell University can’t figure it out, then … nobody can,” Ricci says.

Pursuing the project

The CNY Technology Development Organization (TDO) suggested Corso’s explore the program a few years ago.

The company applied last summer and Cornell University reviewed its application.

Cornell viewed the Corso’s project as “somewhat unique,” Ricci says, because its faculty and scientists usually deal with a component in an electronic [device] or a piece of software, but Corso’s problem had a “real-world application.”

“You could directly see how it would impact the business,” Ricci says. 

Under the program, Corso’s contributes $5,000, and New York provides the matching $5,000 through the JumpStart program. The company applied in late summer and the work started when Cornell’s fall semester started, Ricci says.

The JumpStart award covers “all the research-related expenses,” he adds.

Corso’s is working with Cornell professor Carmen Moraru on the project, and they’ve had meetings in at the company headquarters in Geddes and at the Cornell campus in Ithaca.

The Cornell team is developing a strategy for developing the faster-drying frosting and will share its findings with Corso’s in December, Ricci says.

“We’re going to spend a day testing to make sure that, yes, it worked in very small quantities in a laboratory. Does it [then] work when we run a full day’s production,” he adds.

Once the project is complete, Corso’s is hoping for a frosting that will dry in half the time.

“It’s really a matter of tweaking the ingredients, the content or the percentage,” Ricci says.

The company is then hoping the faster-drying frosting will lead to quicker shipments, which would also result in opening space that’s currently dedicated to cookie storage as the frosting dries.

The additional space would then mean more manufacturing space, which could ultimately lead to something else that’s vital.

“More sales,” says Peter Hess, CEO of Corso’s Cookies.

Hess, his wife Tina Corso-Hess, and Trevor Whiting, who serves as the company’s information-technology specialist, all share ownership of the firm. Hess declined to disclose how much each person owns.

A growing firm

Additional sales would only add to the growth at Corso’s Cookies. In the last few years, the firm has invested “nearly a million dollars” in technology and manufacturing equipment at its 13,000-square-foot plant at 314 Lakeside Road in Geddes, Hess says.

Corso’s Cookies declined to disclose its annual-revenue figure but its employee count has more than doubled since 2010, increasing from 20 to 44 full-time workers, according to Hess.

Corso’s services its retail customers through its website, which launched 10 years ago, and also ships its products to wholesalers and directly to national retailers.

The retailers include New York City–based Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a retailer of books, eBooks, magazines, toys, games, music, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs; Oklahoma City, Okla.–based Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which specializes in crafts and home décor; Scranton, Pa.–based Gertrude Hawk Chocolates; and Lebanon, Tenn.–based Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ: CRBL), a restaurant chain that serves home-style county food with retail stores offering gift items and food.

Corso’s Cookies has also provided specifically licensed Buffalo Bills and Syracuse University cookies for Williamsville–based Tops Markets.

International business

Corso’s only services one customer outside the United States. Laura Secord is a Mississauga, Ont.–based chocolate company that has more than 120 locations throughout Canada.

Corso’s doesn’t have many online retail customers outside the U.S. because of the “amount of paperwork” involved, Hess says.

“Shipping even into Canada since 9-11 has changed dramatically. The cost for the consumer doesn’t make it worth it for them or for us to make that transaction,” he adds.

Corso’s is pursuing its safe-quality foods (SQF) certification to make it easier to pursue additional international customers.

When Corso’s attends the annual Sweets & Snack Expo in Chicago, “there’s a lot of interest from overseas buyers, but that food-safety certification is [essential for] getting that business,” Hess says.

SQF is recognized by retailers and foodservice providers around the world who require a “rigorous, credible food-safety management system,” according to the website of the Arlington, Va.–based Safe Quality Food Institute.

The SQF Institute describes its mission as one that aims “to deliver consistent, globally recognized food safety and quality certification programs based on sound scientific principles, consistently applied across all industry sectors, and valued by all stakeholders, according to its website. 

Using the SQF certification program will help reduce assessment inconsistencies and costs of multiple assessment standards, the website says.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com