Sweet Fortune

Daria Artem loves a challenge. So when friends challenged the former public relations executive to bake a giant fortune cookie some 10 years ago, Artem rose to the task — and received rave reviews for her sweet treat. Before long, she made baking cookies a full-time business: Lady Fortunes, Inc. The Canoga Park-based company, started in 2004, makes the signature fortune cookies along with a variety of gourmet baked goods such as chocolate-covered Oreos, candy apples, pretzels and cupcakes. Lady Fortunes serves a variety of corporate clients including Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Chevron and Westfield Group, generating about $4.5 million in revenue last year, up 80 percent from $2.5 million in 2010,Artem said. The company employs about 40 area workers. Artem blazed a trail into the high-end confectionary industry by participating in trade shows and “cold calling” prospective clients. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door,” she says. Lady Fortunes recently hired a publicist and partnered with daily deal sites, such as Groupon, to ramp up sales among individual consumers who account for about 5 percent of business. Next year, Artem said she plans to move into larger kitchen facilities to expand the business even further. The company has received recognition from media outlets such as Food Network, Modern Bride magazine and Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The exposure has helped Lady Fortunes to attract clients nationwide, including JAL Enterprises, a Chicago-based company that creates products to support nonprofit organizations. JAL CEO John Luppo has been a customer for about a year. He said soon he may hire the company to make a special cookie for his latest project with Fight For Autism, a foundation started by former Major League Baseball player Darryl Strawberry. “I love the products,” Luppo said. “They taste great.” Ingredients of Success Certified by the Los Angeles Culinary Institute, Artem spent much of her college years working as a personal chef. While in school, she also dabbled in advertising and launched her own business — an agency called Artem PR. Some of her clients includedWestfield Group and CarusoAffiliated. One day, while at a birthday party with some girlfriends, Artem was challenged to bake a giant fortune cookie. Artem said she found a recipe online and baked the treat, which became an instant hit among her friends. Then she began using the cookies as gifts for her clients. “I bragged and would tell them I made them myself,”Artem said. Over the next few years, Artem’s baking services started to rival her public relations services. Clients began to request her fortune cookies for their children’s birthday parties and Bar Mitzvahs. “One order was for 350 cookies for wedding invitations,” she said. In 2004, after years of juggling school, her PR business and her baking business, Artem decided pursue the baking business full time. It wasn’t a decision she made lightly. As an advertising professional, she knew she had to figure out a way to get the Lady Fortunes name out to the public and stand out from the crowd of established cookie companies. She became a member of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) and signed on to participate in the organization’s largest event, the Summer International Fancy Food Show. With two shows a year, the Fancy Food Show has become North America’s largest specialty food and beverage marketplace, bringing in more than 40,000 attendees from more than 80 countries. Artem signed her first two major accounts — big-box retailers Costco and Sam’s Club — as a result of the exhibit. Since then, the retail business has grown significantly, accounting for about 60 percent of her business. “Getting the accounts is easy,” Artem said. “It’s about maintaining those accounts and making sure that those accounts are purchasing from you every season.” The Business of Baking Lady Fortunes also has partnered with ecommerce sites such as 1-800-Flowers.com and EdibleGiftsPlus.com, serving as a supplier for the online businesses. Drop shippers have been a growing segment for the company, Artem said, noting they account for about 20 percent of her business. EdibleGiftsPlus.com, a website based in Middletown, N.J., sells edible gifts to corporate clients and party planners. Founder and owner Margo Rappel said Lady Fortunes was one of the first suppliers she enlisted when launching the site in 2007. Rappel said Artem and her team are quick to respond to requests, even if the job entails cooking up a new creation. “They’re very willing to work with us and come up with new designs and products,” she said. Artem said the company’s rapid growth and success has made for a sometimes challenging lifestyle. She has had to juggle her roles as wife and mother with that of being CEO, and that hasn’t always been easy. “I didn’t get to see my daughter’s first steps, and her first word was not ‘mommy,’” Artem said. But she also has found ways to stay connected to her family. The Lady Fortunes headquarters serves as a family space, she said, noting there’s a play area for her two children, who are under age 4. She also cooks for her family five days a week and incorporates a “family fun night” to ensure quality time with her husband and children. Despite the hectic schedule, Artem said she has no plans to slow down. This year, Lady Fortunes is looking to expand its retail business, Artem said, declining to disclose the prospective clients. And next year she plans to move the operations into a larger space to accommodate her growth. “I want to see the company grow into a dominant force in the gourmet industry,” Artem said.