In 2022, Midwest Dairy partnered with The Hatchery Chicago to launch an accelerator program aimed at sparking dairy innovation. Since then, the project has grown, supporting entrepreneurs who are redefining how dairy appears in today’s food landscape. As the program evolves, we continue to celebrate the incredible food innovators who have emerged as winners along the way.
Bakr Cookie won first place in 2023. Alexa Ryan is the founder of Bakr Cookies, located in the heart of Chicago. Bakr is on a mission to make butter shine—one cookie at a time. Offering frozen, ready-to-bake cookie dough made with simple, clean ingredients and real butter, Bakr has quickly become a favorite among customers who appreciate both quality and convenience. Alexa and her team credit their success to a clear focus on transparency—and of course, their star ingredient: butter.
“We’ve seen incredible support from customers who value clean ingredients, but it’s the butter that truly sets us apart,” Alexa shared. “I’m so grateful to the Midwest Dairy community for believing in Bakr from the beginning. Their shared kitchen helped us scale quickly and expand into retail, and it has been a key part of our story. And to the Midwest Dairy farmers, thank you for making the amazing butter that powers our cookies!”
Since winning the Midwest Dairy Pitch Competition in Fall 2023, Alexa has expanded Bakr from a single kitchen to over 400 retail locations across the Midwest, producing more than 600,000 cookies. You can now find their cookie dough in Meijer, Mariano’s, and independent grocery stores, where they’ve already earned the title of #1 frozen cookie dough. And Bakr is just getting started. By the end of 2025, they plan to expand to over 2,000 stores nationwide, using more than 150,000 pounds of butter. Midwest Dairy is proud to support Bakr on their sweet journey and can’t wait to see what’s next. Keep an eye out —your new favorite cookie might be closer than you think! Advancing dairy through innovation and research remains a core strategy of the dairy checkoff. That’s why Midwest Dairy actively invests in efforts that address industry challenges and partners with those creating exciting new ways to drive demand for dairy.