But when it comes to Central Otago’s Rhoades family, the crumbs do not scatter far from the cookie. Chris Rhoades and his identical twin sons Tim and Tony all work in the Cookie Time business, based in Cromwell.
Chris Rhoades is a finalist in the franchisee of the year — small business category — in this year’s New Zealand Franchise Awards which will be announced at a gala dinner at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland on November 9. The franchising sector contributed the equivalent of 12% of New Zealand’s GDP with a collective annual turnover of $36.8billion.
This year’s finalists came from a broad range of industries including cleaning, food, accommodation, logistics, accounting, consumer services, construction products and services, and property maintenance and services.
Admitting he was “blown away” by the nomination, Mr Rhoades, 59, said it was a highlight just to be recognised as a finalist.
While it was his name on the nomination, he could not have done it without his sons, the wider Cookie Time team, and his Dunedin-based business partner and longtime friend Phil Collings.
His sales career began when he was 11 or 12, selling ice creams at the movie theatre in his hometown Blenheim.
He worked for Tip Top, Cerebos Gregg’s, Mobil and Koromiko Cheese before his wife Trudy — who he met at the University of Otago and has been with for 41 years — spied an advertisement for a role at Cookie Time.
Fronted by a mascot known as the Cookie Muncher, Cookie Time is a family-owned Christchurch company, founded in 1983 with the delivery of 70 jars of chocolate chunk cookies to 70 Christchurch stores.
He joined Cookie Time in 2001, attracted by it being a quirky homegrown brand.
He worked in the business for 12 and a-half years, 10 of those as franchise manager.
But he always wanted to be a franchisee and the two places he wanted to be were either Central Otago or Nelson.
It happened that Cookie Time’s Central Otago franchisee was retiring, so the move was made south. After nearly 11 years in Cromwell, the couple loved the town.
For the first two years, Mr Rhoades managed an area covering 28,000sqkm on his own and then his sons joined the business — Tim first, and then Tony who was managing a rental car business in Queenstown and decided he did not want to work for other people.
“I’m really fortunate they have the right personalities for the business. They get on really well with their customers, they’re more gregarious than me and get the job done in a different way. We all have our own processes.”
Operating from a warehouse in Cromwell where their three vans were based, the coverage area was split into two: Central Otago — mainly Alexandra, Cromwell, Wanaka, Haast, Ranfurly and Roxburgh — and then Queenstown and Te Anau.
The twins, who turn 31 next month, had grown up with Cookie Time, although the novelty of cookies as youngsters did wear off as they swapped them with schoolmates at lunchtime.
Being identical, they had also featured in promotions for the business.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a big impact on the business — “it kicked us around quite significantly”.
But they got through it and their business relationships had become stronger due to servicing their customers throughout it as Cookie Time was deemed an essential service.
The business operated seven days a week, largely as a consequence of working in that area — particularly the Queenstown influence — with just Christmas Day and Boxing Day off.
Mr Rhoades had also been covering Dunedin for the past 15 months.
Fortunately, he enjoyed driving as he clocked up about 1200km a week. But almost every day the landscape looked different, with the Central Otago thyme in bloom at the moment.
After so many years in sales, it had become intuitive and he still enjoyed his job and felt very fortunate.
“I’m working with my sons … and working with a good mate of mine in Dunedin and not many people get that opportunity to do that.”
