Baby-faced mastermind of Australia’s great $17.50 Crumbl cookie uproar is unmasked as a private schoolboy – and his mum is not taking questions!
EXCLUSIVE
A baby-faced schoolboy from Sydney’s eastern suburbs can be unmasked as the mastermind behind the Crumbl cookie pop-up which sparked outrage this week.
Westbourne College Year 12 student Toby Joshua, 18, and older brother Noah, 21, are the entrepreneurs who sparked hour-long queues for fans of the cult US sweet treat.
Hundreds lined up on Sunday outside their makeshift store in North Bondi to buy the famous cookies – but were shocked by the $17.50 per biscuit price.
That shock turned to anger when customers alleged the cookies were imports which the brothers had brought back in bulk from Hawaii, and not freshly baked.
The young duo of would-be businessmen later wiped their social media page and defended their actions, stating they had not broken any laws.
On Wednesday, Daily Mail Australia tracked down Toby, registered owner of the Sugar Party AU company behind the venture, to his family home in the city’s east.
But the brothers’ mother Lauren Joshua refused to take questions about the backlash at their $4million Bellevue Hill mansion, and slammed the door shut on reporters.
The boys’ mother Lauren Joshua refused to take any questions about the backlash at their $4million Bellevue Hill mansion in Sydney’s east
Crumbl cookies flown in by the brothers from Hawaii were sold for $17.50 each
The pair had earlier taken to social media on Tuesday to address ‘the drama surrounding the event’ and stated they had sold ‘genuine Crumbl cookies’.
‘We travelled to the US to purchase the cookies and imported them with our original packaging,’ they stated.
‘We did not bake them ourselves.’
They argued they had maintained the quality of the cookies during the journey.
‘Crumbl cookies should be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days or refrigerated for up to seven days,’ they said.
‘We kept them to these requirements.
‘Some were warmed to enhance their texture, which is what Crumbl does as well.
Toby and older brother Noah, 21 (pictured) are the entrepreneurs who sparked hour-long queues for fans of the cult US sweet treat
‘While most customers enjoyed the cookies, a couple of influencers felt they didn’t meet expectations.
‘We apologise that they don’t live up to expectations; however, they are just cookies at the end of the day.’
The brothers’ Sugar Party AU is an online confectionery store stocking hard-to-find lollies sourced from around the world that operates out of the North Bondi trophy store where the Crumbl sale was held.
The pair said the event was ‘never about profit’ and claimed they had spent $4000 on flights and luggage, $6000 on cookies and packaging, $2000 in duties, taxes and customs broking and more than $1000 on staffing.
The luxury family home of Toby Joshua, who is a year 12 student at Westbourne College
The brothers’ Sugar Party logo could be seen inside the makeshift cookie store in North Bondi
Crumbl Cookie packaging could be seen throughout the store used by Sugar Party AU
They are understood to have sold 700 of the imported cookies at $17.50 a time, for a total possible revenue of $12,250.
The pair denied using any of Crumbl’s trademarks in their TikTok videos and they never ‘claimed to be an official Crumbl store’.
‘This was clearly stated in [our] bio and our comments. Our goal was to bring the authentic Crumbl cookies to Australia by importing the cookies directly from the USA,’ they wrote.
The US company founded in 2017, did not endorse the Sydney pop-up.
Founder Sawyer Hemsley broke his silence on TikTok that the pop-up store was ‘not affiliated’ with Crumbl, but seeing how many people turned out showed him that ‘we need to expedite our visit to Australia’.
