Our Company > Our History

The History of Immaculate

Any history of Immaculate Baking begins with Scott Blackwell's story. At 7, he sees the movie, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and sends away for the "Make Your Own Wonka Bar" Kit. Scott peddles his handmade chocolates to neighbors out of his wagon. His great-grandmother teaches him how to bake, and his love for chocolate, baking, and whimsy are solidified!

Scott later uses his baking skills to pay for college with a cash-only pie business, serving 28 local restaurants. While building pie boxes one night, Scott sees 2 wacky guys on tv named Ben & Jerry. 3 months later, Scott is the 9th distributor in the country for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

In 1989, Scott sells his Ben and Jerry's distribution, moves to Columbia, SC, and opens Immaculate Consumption on Main Street. The restaurant sells all natural sandwiches, baked goods, and fresh roasted coffee and espresso. Always resourceful, Scott makes tables out of old doors and uses leftover furniture from the previous tenant to make counters. A 1950s, avocado green refrigerator purchased from a salvage yard houses the prep ingredients.

In 1993, Scott sells the restaurant and moves to Flat Rock. Working out of his garage, he roasts artisan coffee and bakes cookies - packaged in plain brown bags - to sell locally.

The early days in the cookie business are a little tough for Scott. So, to clear his head and regain perspective, he takes a few road trips around the South to visit some friends. Along the way, he discovers folk art, and his life is never the same. Scott is drawn to the spirit of folk art and artists, to their innate creativity, their resilience and resourcefulness. He decides to celebrate these artists by featuring their work on his cookie and coffee packages.

Scott attends his first trade show in 1997 at Atlanta's AmericasMart. On a tight budget, he builds his booth by hand in his backyard for a total cost of 27 bucks. The booth design wins Best in Show!

Scott takes the cookies clear across the country for their West Coast debut at the NASFT Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. It's a true success, considering a man named Chuck Williams exits the show with multiple Apple Pie cookies in his pocket. Scott receives an order - at his garage -- from Williams-Sonoma the following week.

Marking the 1999 birth of Liam, his first child, Scott creates Leapin' Lemon, Immaculate's lemon white chocolate best seller. The following year, Leapin' Lemon wins the award for Most Outstanding Cookie in America at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York.

After realizing that a much-needed packaging machine is too tall to fit in the garage, Scott begins a frantic search for a real bakery building. He moves from the garage into an old metal shop in downtown Hendersonville, NC. The building is outfitted with industrial ovens and even has an office!

Around this time, Scott reaches back to his pie baking days and creates Key Largo Lime cookies, a tribute to the Key Lime pies he made and sold to pay his way through college. Increasing in both staff and production, Immaculate begins building a 12,000 square foot facility in Hendersonville.

That same year, Scott established the Folk Artist's Foundation to give support, aid, encouragement and exposure to artists working in the folk art tradition.

In the middle of a 2002 snowstorm, the folks at Immaculate move to the new bakery building. Here, Scott develops the award-winning Edible Art Box, a cookie kit celebrating Immaculate's love of baking and the creativity of American Folk Art. Immaculate is recognized as North Carolina Business of the Year.

Research and development begins on a super secret project, codename WBC. A flurry of extraordinary activity takes over the back warehouse. WBC is code for . . . . World's Biggest Cookie! After many, many months of preparation and trial baking, the World's Biggest Cookie is baked on May 17. The cookie weighs in at 38,000 pounds and measures over 102 ft. long!

Immaculate's Artreach Van is created in 2004 to help fulfill an outreach program pairing folk artists with kids young and old. Scott takes the van, and artist, Leonard Jones, to Mt. Pleasant, SC to bake a 10 foot cookie at Earth Fare and share Leonard's paintings with the children gathered at the store. The Soul Food Fund is established to support, nurture and celebrate creativity. Ten foot cookies continue to bake around the Southeast (and in Chicago!)

In 2008, Paul Nardone comes on board as CEO and frees up Scott for more innovation. And innovate, he does. Scott is passionate about food and develops all of Immaculate's recipes himself.

Aside from his overwhelming interest in Immaculate, Scott remains an avid folk art collector and has even dipped into the world of filmmaking to complete the 10-year documentary project about Southern folk artists entitled "All Rendered Truth."

The company has grown slowly, cookie by cookie, but the past few years have seen an explosion of creativity and production: we've launched a full line of natural and organic cookie dough, brownie dough, buttermilk biscuits, and scones. We've made debuts in more stores than ever, gotten some amazing press, and connected with folk artists for baking and packaging inspiration.

And here we are, almost 15 years later - still committed to premium ingredients, folk art, and fun. You find our cookies on airplanes, in supermarkets, and club stores - and hopefully, you're keeping these treats in your own kitchen.