Baked by Melissa expands into Target with holiday cupcake kits

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Baked by Melissa holiday kits at Target

Highlights

Target began exclusively selling Baked by Melissa holiday cupcake kits, liners, and pans on Sunday to boost holiday season spending.
The launch marks Baked by Melissa's entry into at-home baking products following a year of planning and expands its reach beyond its nine New York locations.
With over 2.8 million TikTok followers, Baked by Melissa leverages its national brand appeal as Target seeks to improve sales after last year's disappointing holiday results.

Holiday retail push and product rollout

As reported by CNBC, Target starts exclusively selling Baked by Melissa cupcake kits, liners and a cupcake pan from Sunday as it looks to encourage shoppers to spend more during the holiday season.

The product line includes three flavors, Christmas Tie-Dye, Marshmallow Hot Cocoa and Red Velvet, all built around the company's signature bite-size format. The move places Baked by Melissa in the at-home baking aisle for the first time after years of internal discussion about expanding into consumer products.

Founder Melissa Ben-Ishay says she decided to pursue the category a year ago after a visit to a Target store with her two children. She says a walk through the baking aisle convinced her the brand should have a place there, but the process took longer than the company's usual pace because of approvals and new retail partnerships.

Consumer packaged goods widen restaurant brand reach

Baked by Melissa's launch comes as more restaurant and food brands turn to consumer packaged goods to support sales in a difficult operating environment. Long-established examples such as California Pizza Kitchen and TGI Fridays have licensed frozen foods for years, while brands including Chick-fil-A and Dutch Bros have expanded into grocery products more recently.

For smaller companies such as Momofuku and Carbone, grocery shelf space can broaden brand awareness and give consumers a lower-cost way to try their products. Founded in 2008, Baked by Melissa operates nine permanent locations in the New York area and ships mini cupcakes nationwide, while its social media following, including more than 2.8 million TikTok followers, has helped raise its profile well beyond the region.

That broader audience may also fit Target's aims this season after a disappointing holiday period last year. Ben-Ishay says the retailer was a natural starting point because she sees herself as part of its core customer base, describing herself as a 42-year-old mother of two who shops there frequently.

Our earlier report on surging U.S. toy prices ahead of the holidays explained how tariffs on Chinese imports and higher oil-, commodity-, and shipping-related costs were pushing shelf prices up faster than many other categories. We also noted that these cost pressures were squeezing manufacturers’ margins and could keep holiday shopping budgets under strain, even as some tariff rates eased.

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