Francis Nelson Beebe has worn many hats in his life, from being a Procter and Gamble executive, to a Cordon-Bleu trained chef, retiree, and most recently, founder, CEO, baker, chief cook, and bottle washer of the hugely popular, frequently sold-out, Mr. Nelson’s Cookies®. Nelson, a “hometown Gold Canyon boy” who considers chocolate chip cookies to be one of the four major food groups, makes his hand-crafted delicacies in a small, custom bakery on the edge of the Tonto National Forest in Gold Canyon, Arizona.Mr. Nelson is the only employee of his company. He mixes, makes, bakes, packs, labels, and ships everything by himself.
Each cookie weighs nearly a quarter of a pound, so the company refers to them as “adult cookies.” Mr. Nelson’s Cookies®may be purchased online in quantities of 6 or 12. In true artisan fashion, he currently bakes only 288, cookies four times per week. His cookies are then hand-packaged in a premium drawer-like boutique gift box and shipped via USPS to all 50 states the same day they are made. “Aside from the baker,” Nelson likes to say; his cookies are 100% nut free. His proprietary recipe uses three types of very high end chocolate and a specially produced blend of imported Bourbon & Tahitian Vanillas.
Francis Nelson Beebe was raised in Southern New Jersey and went on to graduate with a Master’s Degree from LSU. After his studies were completed, he accepted a position at Procter & Gamble, where for 30 years he did the “corporate thing”, traveled the world, and swam with the corporate sharks on a daily basis. He left his Associate Director’s post at P&G in 2002 to retire in Gold Canyon, Arizona (about 30 miles east of Scottsdale, AZ.)
Nelson and his wife, Michele, always had a passion for the culinary arts. So while his fellow retirees were buying new exotic cars to celebrate their recent P&G retirement, Nelson and Michele took a road much less traveled and enrolled and graduated with honors (after two unbelievably difficult years) from the Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale.
After culinary school, Nelson settled into the classic “retirement mode” and played close to 200 rounds of golf a year, but one day, decided he wanted to reinvent himself and do something a little riskier that would contribute to his personal growth. As fate would have it, after a Christmas Dinner in 2013, Nelson took a traditional, post-meal family walk with his son, Christian Beebe. Their heart-to-heart talk focused on life’s greater purpose. Beebe reminded his father of the incredible cookie recipe he made 30 years’ prior; Nelson was then living as a single dad and his cookies were a huge hit with family and friends.
Mr. Nelson’s Cookies: Built with Hard Work and Family Dedication
Christian, who has an extensive background in marketing and psychology, told his father that if he made the cookies, he would help him “do the rest.” So, with a renewed sense of passion and purpose at 64 years old, in 2013, Nelson took a recipe he had developed over 30 years before, combined it with the expertise he had learned and practiced as a Cordon Bleu trained chef and set about building a world-class bakery that could be “manned” by one person. He then worked tirelessly through the most finite of details to make sure every hand-made cookie turned out in his words, “What Perfection Tastes Like!”
In June of 2014, now nearing his 66th birthday and approximately 12 years after he first retired, Nelson went live online to sell his cookies with the help of his son, Christian.
More information about Mr. Nelson’s Cookies
- Mr. Nelson only makes 24 dozen a day. He knows he can keep the quality consistent at 24 dozen a day, being the only employee and he will not compromise his quality. He is in his bakery Monday thru Thursday each week.
- After 6 months of development, Mr. Nelson has created and introduced a gluten-free “twin” of his famous gluten cookie — it is nearly identical in appearance, taste and texture – truly, divine!
- 95% of Mr. Nelson’s business is online orders as he ships to every state in the U.S. Mr. Nelson has NO retail presence currently except at special events – weddings, corporate golf outings, executive wine tastings, etc.
- Mr. Nelson, personally signs each box and handwrites a batch number. He also writes a salutation card inside the box by hand-for every box.
- Mr. Nelson’s cookies contain nothing artificial and because of the way they are made, they can be frozen up to four to six months.
- Mr. Nelson loves what he does and every bit of love goes into his cookies. They are truly a luxuriously unique, artisan gift. Every customer has been wowed, not only by the packaging, but, of course, the cookies themselves.