# Sweet Martha's Cookies
**Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar** is a Minnesota cookie company founded in 1979 that sells oven-hot chocolate chip cookies and is the top-grossing food vendor at the [Minnesota State Fair](https://www.edgepedia.org/minnesota-state-fair), where its three stands can produce up to 3 million cookies per day on the busiest days of the 12-day event[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about). It was started by St. Paul native Martha Rossini Olson with partners Gary Olson and Neil and Brenda O'Leary, beginning with a 9-by-11-foot fair booth the owners built themselves[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about). At the 2025 fair it grossed $5.24 million, more than double the second-highest earner[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 at the Minnesota State Fair, in a 9'x11' booth built by the owners; accepted for cookies three weeks before the fair after a rejected yogurt application[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) |
| Output | 44,000 cookies every 12 minutes at full capacity across three stands; about 1 million cookies on an average fair day, up to 3 million on the busiest[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson) |
| Revenue | $2.9 million (2014), $4.36 million (2017), $5 million (2019), $4.6 million (2023), $4.9 million (2024), $5.24 million (2025)[4](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/) • [5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/) • [6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/) |
| Standing | Top-grossing State Fair vendor; 2024 revenue was more than double that of the second-highest earner; in 2025, Pronto Pups was second at $2.23 million[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/) |
| Signature serving | A plastic bucket loaded with about four dozen cookies despite fitting only three dozen; the lid cannot close until roughly 38 cookies are eaten[7](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/15/nostalgic-cravings-at-the-minnesota-state-fair) • [8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/with-addictive-cookies-martha-olson-cooks-up-sweet-business-model/) |
| Workforce | Aims to hire at least 750 seasonal workers for the 12-day fair; company total is roughly 800 employees[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [9](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/general/from-accidental-cookie-stand-to-state-fair-icon/) |
| Fair's cut | Vendors pay no rent; the fair takes 15 percent of top-line sales (18.5 percent on beer), about $650,000 from Sweet Martha's in 2017[5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/) |
## History and founding
The company began with a rejection. In 1978 Martha Rossini Olson, then a twenty-eight-year-old art teacher, and her partners applied to the State Fair to sell yogurt and were turned down; they were accepted for cookies three weeks before the 1979 fair, had no cookie recipe, and combined their mothers' recipes[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [7](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/15/nostalgic-cravings-at-the-minnesota-state-fair). The name came earlier: Martha's brother Ray coined "Sweet Martha" in 1978 for a Hennepin Avenue yogurt shop where cookie crumbles were first used as a topping[10](https://www.startribune.com/meet-the-st-paul-woman-who-makes-the-minnesota-state-fair-gooey-and-sweet/600300486).
The first stand used a Kook-e-King machine and could make 200 cookies in 12 minutes[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [11](https://www.foodservicedirector.com/foodservice-operations/inside-the-minnesota-state-fair-a-12-day-food-frenzy-where-a-cookie-stand-does-5m). The owners kept their day jobs and reinvested profits, buying a permanent site three years later[11](https://www.foodservicedirector.com/foodservice-operations/inside-the-minnesota-state-fair-a-12-day-food-frenzy-where-a-cookie-stand-does-5m). The mini-cookie idea was inspired by the success of [Famous Amos](https://www.edgepedia.org/famous-amos), and the operation has moved across the fairgrounds six times[12](https://www.startribune.com/work-is-sweet-for-lucky-few-at-sweet-martha-s-cookie-jar-at-minnesota-state-fair/323641741).
**Growth to three stands.** A trailer served as a second location from 1984 to 1990, and the company took over the Carnes Avenue stand in 1992[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html). The Grandstand-area booth was rebuilt in 2003[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html). The third booth, the Hill Booth on the North End near Underwood Street and Lee Avenue, opened in 2018 per the company and the Business Journal, though Minnesota Monthly dates a third location to 2016[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/).
## Product and baking process
Cookies are mixed and baked from scratch, and sold hot, baked to order; ingredients are delivered fresh each night of the fair[3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson). One mixing bowl of dough makes about 5,000 cookies, and walk-in ovens bake 2,000 cookies at a time[3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson). The dough is built on a dry mix made by Eagan-based Gregory's Foods, blended in nine 140-quart mixers[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html).
Over the 12 days of the fair the operation uses about 197,000 pounds of sugar, 143,000 pounds of flour, 125,000 pounds of chocolate chips, and 58,000 pounds of eggs[3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson) • [13](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/frequently-asked-questions). The State Fair's own trivia page gives a lower figure, 54 tons, for chocolate chip use over the fair's run[14](https://www.mnstatefair.org/about/trivia).
**Servings.** The paper cone is deliberately overfilled, typically piled with 10 to 12 cookies, a number chosen so they do not fall[10](https://www.startribune.com/meet-the-st-paul-woman-who-makes-the-minnesota-state-fair-gooey-and-sweet/600300486). The signature plastic bucket is loaded with about four dozen cookies even though it fits only three dozen[7](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/15/nostalgic-cravings-at-the-minnesota-state-fair); [CBS News](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-news) described the lid as impossible to close until roughly 38 cookies are eaten[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/with-addictive-cookies-martha-olson-cooks-up-sweet-business-model/). Documented prices are historical: $15 for the bucket when CBS profiled the company, $16 for the take-home pail in 2016 (with a $9 "State Fair Deal" cone including milk or coffee), and $17 for the pail in 2017[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/with-addictive-cookies-martha-olson-cooks-up-sweet-business-model/) • [4](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/) • [5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/).
## Locations and business model
The company operates three stands at the fair, open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (8 p.m. on [Labor Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/labor-day)), accepting cash and credit cards[15](https://www.mnstatefair.org/vendor/2079.1/). Outside the fair, Sweet Martha's has sold frozen cookie dough in grocery stores since 1995, made by Gregory's Foods and carried by retailers such as Kowalski's, Target, Cub, and Lunds & Byerlys; five flavors are available (original, gourmet chocolate chunk, peanut butter chocolate chunk, oatmeal chocolate chunk, and macadamia nut white chocolate chunk)[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about) • [6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [9](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/general/from-accidental-cookie-stand-to-state-fair-icon/) • [4](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/). The company also sells at other events, such as Back to the 50s and Soundset[4](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/).
The fair's vendor economics are unusual: vendors pay no rent, but the fair takes a 15 percent cut of top-line sales (18.5 percent on beer). When Sweet Martha's made $4,361,315 in 2017, the fair collected nearly $650,000 from it[5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/).
**Staffing.** The company aims to hire at least 750 people for the 12-day fair, with hiring beginning as early as February; in one recent year about 500 workers returned and about 250 were added[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [10](https://www.startribune.com/meet-the-st-paul-woman-who-makes-the-minnesota-state-fair-gooey-and-sweet/600300486) • [3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson). FoodService Director puts the total at up to 800, about 60 percent returning from previous years[11](https://www.foodservicedirector.com/foodservice-operations/inside-the-minnesota-state-fair-a-12-day-food-frenzy-where-a-cookie-stand-does-5m), and the company site says nearly 800 people across its locations[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about).
## By the numbers
Capacity has grown roughly 220-fold since 1979, from 200 cookies in 12 minutes to 44,000 in the same time across the three stands[1](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about). An earlier Star Tribune account gave 24,000 cookies per 12 minutes, a figure that predates the current equipment[12](https://www.startribune.com/work-is-sweet-for-lucky-few-at-sweet-martha-s-cookie-jar-at-minnesota-state-fair/323641741). Daily output averages about 1 million cookies, with 3 million on the busiest days[3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson) • [14](https://www.mnstatefair.org/about/trivia).
Revenue has climbed with capacity and attendance: $2,902,825 in 2014, when the No. 2 vendor grossed $1,037,272[4](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/); $4,361,315 in 2017, a 79 percent rise since 2013[5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/); about $5 million in 2019; $4.6 million in 2023; $4.9 million in 2024; and $5.24 million in 2025[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/). The 2017 total equals more than 13 million cookies[5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/).
## How it compares with other fair vendors
Sweet Martha's leads the fair by a wide margin. In 2025 its $5.24 million across three booths put it ahead of Pronto Pups at $2.23 million, Mouth Trap Cheese Curds at $1.92 million, and The Perfect Pickle at $1.7 million[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/). In 2024 it earned $4.9 million, more than double Pronto Pups[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [7](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/15/nostalgic-cravings-at-the-minnesota-state-fair), and in an earlier year it grossed almost $3 million, about $2 million more than the next food vendor[12](https://www.startribune.com/work-is-sweet-for-lucky-few-at-sweet-martha-s-cookie-jar-at-minnesota-state-fair/323641741).
The national context is unusual. CBS News reported it could not find a state fair booth anywhere in America with revenues near Sweet Martha's[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/with-addictive-cookies-martha-olson-cooks-up-sweet-business-model/). FoodService Director notes that the stand's 12-day revenue is roughly equal to an In-N-Out restaurant's annual revenue[11](https://www.foodservicedirector.com/foodservice-operations/inside-the-minnesota-state-fair-a-12-day-food-frenzy-where-a-cookie-stand-does-5m). For scale, the fair's roughly 280 food vendors sell about 1,600 different items, and top vendors can make $1 million or more over the 12 days[5](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/).
## Recent developments
Revenue has set successive highs: $4.6 million in 2023, $4.9 million in 2024, and $5.24 million in 2025, the company's 47th State Fair[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html) • [2](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/) • [3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson). The stands now run 21 double ovens and one single oven with nine 140-quart mixers[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html), though a founder-family account describes the fleet as 22 ovens across three locations[3](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson). Hiring targets remain at least 750 workers[6](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html).
## References
1. [About — Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/about)
2. [Which food vendors make the most money at the Minnesota State Fair? — CBS Minnesota](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-state-fair-which-vendors-make-the-most-money/)
3. [A Day at the Minnesota State Fair With Dôen's Jenny Olson — Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/a-day-at-the-minnesota-state-fair-with-doens-jenny-olson)
4. [The sweet life — Minnesota Good Age](https://www.mngoodage.com/living/features/2016/08/the-sweet-life/)
5. [Inside the MN State Fair's Lucrative Food Business — Minnesota Monthly](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/inside-the-mn-state-fairs-lucrative-food-business/)
6. [Sweet Martha's Minnesota State Fair Cookie Jar — Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2025/08/21/sweet-marthas-minnesota-state-fair-cookie-jar.html)
7. [Nostalgic Cravings at the Minnesota State Fair — The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/15/nostalgic-cravings-at-the-minnesota-state-fair)
8. [With addictive cookies, Martha Olson cooks up sweet business model — CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/with-addictive-cookies-martha-olson-cooks-up-sweet-business-model/)
9. [From Accidental Cookie Stand to State Fair Icon — Minnesota Monthly](https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/general/from-accidental-cookie-stand-to-state-fair-icon/)
10. [Meet 'Sweet Martha' Rossini — Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/meet-the-st-paul-woman-who-makes-the-minnesota-state-fair-gooey-and-sweet/600300486)
11. [Inside the Minnesota State Fair, a 12-day food frenzy where a cookie stand does $5M — FoodService Director](https://www.foodservicedirector.com/foodservice-operations/inside-the-minnesota-state-fair-a-12-day-food-frenzy-where-a-cookie-stand-does-5m)
12. [Work is sweet for lucky few at Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar — Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/work-is-sweet-for-lucky-few-at-sweet-martha-s-cookie-jar-at-minnesota-state-fair/323641741)
13. [Frequently Asked Questions — Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar](https://www.sweetmarthas.com/frequently-asked-questions)
14. [Fair Trivia — Minnesota State Fair](https://www.mnstatefair.org/about/trivia)
15. [Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar vendor page — Minnesota State Fair](https://www.mnstatefair.org/vendor/2079.1/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Retail trade and general-merchandise stores*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license