ABOUT US & OUR PRODUCTS

It began in the summer of 1992 when Carl Goulet began making cookies to sell at a local farmer's market in Windsor, Vermont. Carl had worked as a pastry chef and baker most of his working life and was employed as Executive Chef at a local hospital. Christopher's Cakes & Pastries, named after his oldest son, was a part-time venture that produced cakes, pastries and wedding cakes on the side. Carl's cookies had always enjoyed popularity throughout his career so it was a logical choice of product to produce in larger quantities.

Carl's employer allowed him to rent time in the kitchen after hours and along with selling on a table at the farmer's market, he began getting them into local stores and soon developed a rabid and loyal following. Chocolate Chip, Gingersnap and Shortbread cookies constituted the starting product line. In five years sales had grown and he had outgrown the time and space available and it was time to plunge in full time. With an investment in production equipment and a separate production space, the company incorporated and included Maple Shortbread, and Hermits to the Covered Bridge Cookies product line.

In the basement of the old firehouse on Main St. in Windsor, Vermont, a worker-owned cookie-baking cooperative is carrying on a legacy of local artisanal baking. Covered Bridge Cookies, cherished by locals since Carl Goulet started baking butter, flour, and chocolate into cookies to sell at the Windsor farmer’s market in summer of 1993, now offers the same cookies that Vermonters and tourists alike have come to love, but under a new form of ownership, a worker cooperative.

Carl’s son Christopher Goulet teamed up with Shannon Smith and Colin Moon, who both knew the business well, and the three decided to take on its ownership together by converting it to a worker cooperative. In late winter of 2023,  the new worker-owners announced the formation of the co-op and its purchase of Covered Bridge Cookies, marking the start of a new chapter for the business. 

Under the new ownership structure, the cooperative will serve to benefit both present and future employees. Unlike in a general partnership, a core feature of a worker co-op is the opportunity for new full-time employees to become eligible for ownership after an initial period of working for the business. Employees that pursue this opportunity pay a fixed price for a share in the cooperative and are then entitled to a share in profits and an equal say in key decisions.

Our cookies have no trans fats and are made with the best ingredients from Vermont based companies. Butter from Cabot, Chocolate from Barre Callebaut of St Albans, and  we always use unbleached and unbromated flour along with natural flavorings. We use small batch production techniques that produce an unmistakable home made taste unlike mass-produced cookies. Unpretentious, old fashioned goodness is what defines Covered Bridge Cookies!