A waitress who lost her job in the early days of the pandemic has built a successful side gig selling ultra-decadent cookies across Australia.
Mona, 26, had worked at a cafe in Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport for five years before the Covid crisis reached Australian shores early last year.
When the New Zealander suddenly found herself out of work, she started baking cookies in the kitchen of her Officer home to pass time during the city’s 112-day lockdown over the winter of 2020.
After Google recipes became too straightforward, she began toying with her own ideas, experimenting with iconic treats such as M&Ms, Kinder Buenos and Cadbury Flake to create unique flavours.
Mona, 26, had worked at a cafe in Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport for five years before the Covid crisis reached Australian shores in early 2020
She started baking cookies (left and right) in the kitchen of her Officer home to pass time during the city’s 112-day lockdown over the winter of 2020
Interest flooded in after Mona uploaded photos of the cookies to the self-titled Instagram page, Mona’s Treats, with fans placing orders from across the country
Interest flooded in after Mona uploaded photos of the cookies to the self-titled Instagram page, Mona’s Treats, with fans placing orders from across the country.
‘I think if it was not for Covid, I would have never thought about doing it,’ Mona told Daily Mail Australia.
Less than one year after launching, the self-taught baker now makes an average of 450 cookies each month – spending most of her time on her best-seller, the $8 ‘Kinderella’ which oozes with cream cheese, Nutella and Kinder Bueno filling.
Each one contains a whopping 1,000 calories – roughly half an adult’s recommended daily allowance.
Customers can buy boxes of four for $25, boxes of six for $36 and boxes of eight for $47 through Instagram’s direct message function, as well as classic single cookies for $6.25 each.
Less than one year after launching, the self-taught baker now makes an average of 450 cookies (left) each month – spending most of her time on her best-seller, the $8 ‘Kinderella’ (right) which oozes with Kinder Bueno filling
Customers can buy boxes of four for $25, boxes of six for $36 and boxes of eight for $47 through Instagram’s direct message function, as well as classic single cookies for $6.25 each
Mona makes the cookies in her kitchen, which has been registered with the Shire of Cardinia local council.
She says she has an ‘almost 100 percent’ return rate from customers who rave about the flavours, the texture and the creativity of her cookies.
‘I have many wonderful loyal customers who have been with me from the very start,’ she added.
‘I don’t do flavours that everyone else does which is why everyone has always come back for more.’
Mona is just one of thousands in Australia who are boosting their income with a ‘side hustle’ as the pandemic rolls on.
Mona is just one of thousands in Australia who are boosting their income with a ‘side hustle’ as the pandemic rolls on
The gig economy broadly includes jobs such as catering from home, delivering food for apps, driving for Uber and mowing lawns through platforms like Airtasker.
It is likely to receive a further influx of freelancers in the coming weeks as lockdowns continue across Australia, leaving many furloughed or out of work.
Plans are already underway to plunge long-suffering Melburnians into a third week of lockdown, just hours after stay-at-home orders were extended for a further seven days.
Victoria’s renewed outbreak, which prompted the state’s sixth lockdown in 18 months last week, added another 21 cases on Thursday including four mystery infections.
By next Thursday, Melburnians will have spent 200 days holed up at home, after a disastrous 112-day lockdown over the winter of 2020.
To choose between 11 unique flavours and place an order, visit Mona’s Treats here.