Brownie points

Anyone looking for a creative way of sending a treat to their Valentine was provided with inspiration in the form of Lola’s Cupcakes’ new Brownie Boxes, which were featured on BBC Breakfast in the run-up to 14 February.

The Brownie Boxes, which are designed to fit through the letterbox and delivered by Royal Mail, have proved a huge hit since launching late last year.

The BBC took the opportunity to visit the Lola’s factory and speak to managing director, Asher Budwig (pictured).

Asher also features in an upcoming episode of the Royal Mail Podcast, in which he told us about the impetus behind venturing into the world of brownies.

‘Lola’s has been baking cupcakes for more than 10 years and we'd always sold brownies in our stores, but we were restricted in how far we can reach customers as cupcakes are fragile and don’t travel well at all,’ he said.

‘So we were looking at how we could grow the business and expand our reach and we stumbled upon brownies, which travel much better than cupcakes.’

Lola’s has also introduced a brownie subscription that offers customers a new box of brownies every month. Asher told us why he thinks subscriptions will continue to grow in popularity in years to come.

‘I think there’s definitely been a massive move towards food through the post,’ he said. ‘I think people have so much going on in their lives, they want to worry less about things.

‘Therefore, if you subscribe to things it's something you don’t have to worry about and that naturally fits with a subscription-based product like brownies.’

The Royal Mail Podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Acast