Baked by Melissa will enter the home baking aisle in Target stores as the retailer attempts to persuade shoppers to spend more at its stores during the holiday season.
As of Sunday, Target is exclusively selling the brand’s cupcake kits, liners and a cupcake pan, all in the dessert company’s signature bite-sized treats. The range includes three cupcake flavors: Christmas Tie-Dye, Marshmallow Hot Cocoa and Red Velvet.
The company’s entry into the home baking sector comes as a number of restaurants are turning to consumer packaged goods to increase sales during an otherwise difficult time for the industry.
Some players, such as California Pizza Kitchen and TGI Fridays, have held licenses for their frozen food brands for decades. But other restaurant chains, including Chick-fil-A and Dutch brothershave shifted to groceries much more recently. For smaller businesses, such as Momofuku or Carbone, the space available on a grocery store shelf helps expand the brand’s reach and gives consumers the opportunity to try their food without reservations and at a much lower cost.
Founded by Melissa Ben-Ishay in 2008, Baked by Melissa has nine permanent locations in the New York area and ships its minicupcakes nationwide.
The regional channel gained attention outside the city thanks to Ben-Ishay’s social media presence. On TikTok, the Baked by Melissa account has more than 2.8 million followers, fueled by popular recipe videos, like her green goddess dressing. Ben-Ishay’s social media fame has led to collaborations with Ferrero and Wonder.
Baked by Melissa had been discussing homemade baking products for years, but Ben-Ishay only decided to take the plunge a year ago during a trip to Target with her two children, she told CNBC. A trip down the baking aisle made her decide that Baked by Melissa “should be here,” she said.
“I love making cake mixes. I really do. And, honestly, sometimes I just think it tastes better,” Ben-Ishay said.
But retail is moving more slowly than Baked by Melissa’s usual pace.
The dessert company needed just a few days to create New York Knicks-branded mini-cupcakes after the team won the NBA championship in June, for example, but finding retail products meant “a lot of waiting, approvals and new partners,” Ben-Ishay said.
Twelve months later, the cupcake mixes hit store shelves, just in time for the all-important holiday season.
For Target, the next two months will be crucial as the retailer attempts to win back its core customer after a disappointing holiday season last year. This prototypical Target shopper often looks a lot like Ben-Ishay.
“We started with Target because I’m a 42-year-old mother of two and I find myself there a lot,” she said.
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