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Hawaii Magazine
Her whirlwind success includes website crashes, celebrity endorsements and one very memorable helicopter ride.
Feb 5, 2019
While leaving Costco one day in October 2016, Mitzi Toro looked down at her phone to see her website had crashed and her Instagram account was flooded with hundreds of messages all because of a personal Instagram endorsement by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on one of his buzzworthy “cheat days.”
“This is 16 ounces of handmade, hand rolled slap someone in the face ’cause it tastes so good decadent and dangerous chocolate chip cookie. … from one of my fav cookie spots in the world,” he shared with his 119 million followers. The post turned a modest Maui baker into an Island novelty, and set Toro on course for cookie stardom.
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Mitzi Toro, better known as The Maui Cookie Lady, started out small in 2013, baking cookies out of her home and selling them at once-a-month farmers markets. Over time, the reputation of her brand grew, helped by shout-outs from celebrities like The Rock and Ludacris, appearances on QVC and by national media attention.
She was ready to open her first storefront two years ago, but in Maui’s then-booming economy, she simply could not find a suitable commercial real estate space. Through 2020, two things happened as Maui bore the brunt of Hawaii closing itself off to visitors. Her online sales grew as people who couldn’t travel to Maui sought out Maui treats as a substitute. And, as businesses began to close, spaces opened up. The Maui Cookie Lady shop, opened in Makawao last month.