Brownie Points dedicated to providing kosher products | Chanukah

Brownie Points, a Columbus-based, family run company has grown into a nationally acclaimed kosher brand and throughout it all, owners Lisa King and her sister-in-law Lisa Berliner have said they have focused on innovation and a dedication to providing kosher products.

King, a former elementary school teacher at the Gross Schechter Day School in Pepper Pike, started the company in her apartment kitchen in 1990 and said the company grew out of her love for the treat.

“Brownies have always been my passion,” said King. “I enjoyed teaching by day, but I also loved baking and developing my own recipes. I educated myself on starting a business, and continued teaching by day and baking at night.”

When her family moved to Columbus in 1998, she sold the company, but later bought it back, reopening Brownie Points. Soon after, Berliner said she left her job as an insurance executive to join King in the endeavor, “and now we are the brand name in brownies.”

During Chanukah, Brownie Points offers themed offerings such as Jewish star, menorah and blue and white snowflake brownies in a variety package configurations.

King said, “We are delighted to offer special and unique Chanukah brownies that customers can select in the way that best suits them.”

According to the company’s website, all of its products are kosher as they are made under the supervision of Buckeye Kosher, which is operated by Columbus Vaad Ho’ir.

The demand for Brownie Points offerings goes far beyond the local Jewish community. According to their website, early on, the brownies were featured on the Food Network. As the company grew and the flavor offerings expanded, the brownies were awarded several accolades including Food Network naming their brownies the best in Ohio on the show “Secret Life of Brownies.” The company has also supplied treats at the Billboard and Grammy Awards at the request of Justin Bieber’s team, as well as appearing on “Good Morning America,” “Rachael Ray,” CNN and Fox News, the site said.

Brownie Points’ brownies have also been featured three times on the “Today” show, King said.

“When a show like the ‘Today’ show endorses you as a favorite, it validates you in so many ways,” King said. “It’s the best for us because it’s so positive.”

According to the site, Brownie Points offers 12 classic brownie flavors which are available all the time and they rotate in over 100 new flavors each year, such as sugar cookie brulée, horchata, butterbeer, apple pie beignet, banoffee, babka, pavlova and ube. King said their best seller is the Kitchen Sink, which is their classic chocolate fudge brownie with an additional four kinds of chocolate, peanut butter chunks, butterscotch chips and buttery toffee, drizzled with caramel. They also offer “boozy flavors” and gluten free items.

Their brownies are available on their website, browniepointsinc.com or from third-party purveyors such as Goldbelly and Sur la Table.

Although the company has been around for a while, King and Berliner said they pride themselves on change and growth, always experimenting with new flavors and designs which they create in two production facilities with a staff of more than 40 bakers.

Berliner said, “The last three years have seen a lot of growth for the company. We have made some fundamental changes including rebranding to freshen up the look and feel of the company. We bake brownies with modern flavors, and we wanted our look to reflect that. This includes a redesign of all of our packaging to be printed within ten miles of our production facility and all of our gift boxes are now 100% biodegradable.”

In addition to the Chanukah brownies, Brownie Points recently introduced “Browniemojis,” brownies that look like emojis.

“Brownie Points is known for our unboxing experience, so we set the bar high when it comes to the opening of a gift,” King said. “We know our customers’ favorite thing, adults and kids alike, is to sort through the dozens of brownie flavors, and we want to make it the very best.”

Lisa Matkowsky is a freelance journalist.