-1.png?width=3330&height=698&name=TGP%20International%20Logo%20White%20(1)-1.png "TGP International logo")
Restaurant Concepts,
UK
Collaboration has become one of the most effective tools in F&B, and the most interesting partnerships are increasingly happening well outside the category itself.
The line between F&B and retail continues to blur, with beauty, fashion and hospitality borrowing each other's audiences and language. Consumers now choose brands for what they represent as much as what they sell, and a partnership grounded in shared values travels further than either brand could reach alone. Few operators understand this sweet spot as instinctively as Floozie Cookies.
TGP International speaks to Kimberly Lin, the Canadian born pastry chef and founder of Floozie Cookies, about the brand's recent collaboration with Max Factor.
Lin trained in some of London's most celebrated kitchens, including Claridge's, Corinthia London and Dominique Ansel Bakery London, before launching Floozie in 2020 as a 100% vegan, handmade stuffed cookie concept.
What began as a pandemic project has since grown into an international following, with the Covent Garden café now expanding across the US and Canada. Here, Lin talks about the thinking behind the Max Factor partnership, the pleasure of building a menu around a lipstick shade, and what she has learned from watching a two week campaign turn into a global moment.
How did the Max Factor collaboration first come about?
Every collaboration we do at Floozie starts with a shared sense of playfulness, and this one was no different. Max Factor was reimagining their Mellow Blur lipstick range and wanted a partner who could translate that softness and indulgence into something people could actually taste.
Cookies felt like a natural fit. We speak the same language of comfort and a little bit of mischief, so the conversation moved quickly from an initial chat to a full campaign.
The collaboration centres on two shades, Brown Butter and Mochi Mauve. How did you begin translating a lipstick into a dessert?
I started with the names themselves, honestly. Brown Butter already sounds like something you'd want to eat, so that became our Marsh-Mellow Cookie Pop, a brown butter, miso and Dulcey cookie dipped in toasted marshmallow. Mochi Mauve needed something softer and more delicate, which led us to the Mellow Velvet Hot Chocolate, a salted dark hot chocolate finished with pillowy marshmallow. The colour, the texture and the mood of each lipstick all had to come through in the final product.
What was the biggest challenge in developing the two bespoke items?
Getting the marshmallow right took real trial and error. We wanted that toasted, almost caramelised top that photographs beautifully, but we also needed it to hold its shape long enough to survive a queue out the door in Covent Garden. There is a lot of testing behind something that looks effortless.
The in-store experience clearly played a big role, from table talkers to outdoor signage. How important was it to bring the campaign to life physically, not just online?
Hugely important. People discover us on social media, but they fall in love with Floozie in the café. We wanted anyone walking past our Covent Garden store during the thirteenth to the twenty eighth of February to feel the collaboration before they even stepped inside. The teaser campaign, the goodie bag activation and the free lipstick with purchase all worked together to make it feel like an event rather than just a menu addition.
The results speak for themselves, over five million influencer outreach and more than six million in media coverage reach. Did the scale of the response surprise you?
It did, and it didn't. We knew we had something special with twenty nine influencers on board and genuine excitement building through the teaser phase, but watching individual posts cross the nine hundred thousand view mark was still a wonderful surprise. What means the most to me isn't the numbers though, it's seeing over two hundred pieces of user generated content from people who simply wanted to share the moment themselves.
Beyond the numbers, what feedback stood out to you most?
Honestly, it was the comments about our team. So many customers went out of their way to mention how lovely and attentive the staff were, even during a two-week period when the café was busier than usual. But what really stood out to me was seeing how many people came in for the free lipsticks, then were so surprised by how delicious the cookies and hot chocolate were that they came back the very next day. We had a lot of repeat customers, with the cookie becoming a particular favourite.
Looking back, what did this campaign teach you about collaborating with a beauty brand as a food business, and tell us what's next for Floozie?
That the best partnerships aren't about slapping two logos together. Max Factor's team understood our identity and gave us room to interpret their shades in our own way, and I think that trust is exactly why the campaign felt authentic rather than forced.
We're continuing to grow internationally, and I'd love to do more collaborations in this spirit, ones where two very different categories can genuinely inspire each other. Watch this space.
