Ginger Mendoza and her husband, Soren Andersen, started Batch Cookie Bar, then Ginger’s Kitchen, during the COVID years to keep themselves occupied and furnished with delicious snacks during lockdown. In the three years since opening, the Brisbane-based boutique cookie brand has gone from strength to strength, with the launch of Batch’s sister store, Lunar Pies, on March 29 this year.

“After a few (and when I say a few, it’s a lot!) of goes, and giving them to family and friends, we cracked the recipe. And it all started from there,” Ginger says.

Ginger, who is a qualified chef by trade, learned how to bake while working on superyachts.

“Most of the time, there’s no pastry chef. So, I just had to do it. It’s pretty challenging, because when you’re on board yachts, you’re on water—the scales don’t work,” she says.

All of this experience led Ginger to start Ginger’s Kitchen, her private cheffing and catering business. From there, Ginger decided to change lanes and move to selling her creations in markets around Brisbane.

“I told my husband, we have that chocolate chip recipe, let’s go to the farmers’ market. And he said, ‘You’re crazy!’. But he knew I really wanted to go all in, so we decided to just do it,” Ginger says.

But, as the brand became more popular, and Ginger spent more time doing research and development, the name ‘Ginger’s Kitchen’ started to make less and less sense,” she says.

“There wasn’t any person that could say ‘Hey, my name’s Ginger’… So all the customers thought the cookies had ginger in them!

“We also wanted something a bit more snappy, succinct. That’s why we did the rebrand.”

Now, the brand is taking even bigger steps, launching its sister store Lunar Pies, which will focus on empanadas—something Ginger is very familiar with.

“Lunar Pies started with a big craving. I’m originally from the Philippines. There’s a lot of Hispanic culture there, especially related to food! Empanadas aren’t anything foreign to me—I grew up eating them. And they’re easily available there,” she says.

“I was craving them while I was pregnant and couldn’t find them anywhere except in restaurants. It’s a snack that should be accessible.

“And it started with that. I couldn’t find them, so I started making them. That’s where Lunar Pies really began—that big craving and a gap in the market.”

But this year won’t just mean the launch of Lunar Pies, the new location will also serve as Batch Cookie Bar’s flagship store.

“It’s very exciting! This will be our flagship baking store. Usually in our retail shops and in the markets, there’s just one or two staff. So now it’s like the family’s all here, and I get to be around other people so we can be excited together,” Ginger says.

Looking past the new store, Ginger has big things planned for the future of the brand.

“We want to dip our toes into FMCG, have our frozen doughs or parbaked cookies for the foodservice industry, or hopefully going onto supermarket shelves one day! We’re envisioning opening more stores, not just in Brisbane, but Australia-wide. To be a national brand, that’s definitely our goal. They’re go-big, hairy goals, but we’ll get there one day,” Ginger says.

Wherever Batch Cookie Bar and Lunar Pies are going in the future, they will be infused with Ginger’s signature passion for everything she does.

“I think, when you really love what you do, you actually crave the work. You think, ‘Oh, I want to do something cool and different today’. It’s been a journey for sure,” she says.