Baked by Melissa Brings At-Home Cupcake Kits to Target Aisles

Baked by Melissa has sold more than 500 million bite-sized cupcakes over 18 years — and until this month, you could only get them at nine New York City-area bakeries or online. On Nov. 1, the brand landed its first non-perishable products on Target shelves nationwide and on Target.com.

The lineup includes at-home baking kits in three holiday flavors: Christmas Tie-Dye, Marshmallow Hot Cocoa and Red Velvet. Target is also stocking bite-sized cupcake liners and silicone bite-sized cupcake pans, sold in one-piece or two-piece versions.

Why retail, and why now?

Founder Melissa Ben-Ishay, the brand's co-founder and president, admits the move took years of internal debate. "We've been talking about it for years," she said. "Quite frankly, I've been unpopular at times … because I wasn't ready [to bring the brand into retail]. I didn't have the conviction around expanding our product line into a new category and channel."

Her reasoning for the timing is less analytical than it sounds. "It's like when you're ready to have a baby. … You feel it in every ounce of your bones," Ben-Ishay said.

There's a structural explanation too, even if she frames it emotionally. In March, the company promoted CFO Sanjay Khetan to CEO. A press release at the time said the promotion followed "a year of operational and financial groundwork designed to prepare the company for its next stage of expansion." Ben-Ishay said she's now focused on "getting our product into the hands of more people" — and Target offers exactly that scale.

What else has changed at the company?

Retail is only the newest leg of a broader expansion. Over the past year, Baked by Melissa has signed co-branded partnerships with CPG giants Ferrero and Tabasco, plus entertainment franchises "Paw Patrol" and "Emily in Paris." The March press release said these deals have "meaningfully expanded the brand's reach, relevance and revenue" — though no revenue figures were disclosed.

The brand has also built a direct audience of its own. Ben-Ishay went viral on TikTok during the pandemic for videos of her salads and everyday meals. Today the brand counts 2.8 million followers on TikTok and 1.9 million on Instagram. She announced the Target launch herself over the weekend. "Obviously, it's something I want to scream from the rooftop," she said.

What's the trade-off?

Retail forced the vertically integrated baker to slow down. "We can turn a product around in 24 hours if we have to," Ben-Ishay said of her existing operation. Target's longer lead times required what she called new muscles.

She's framing that friction as an asset: "part of what makes this so exciting for me and for our business is the opportunity to learn and experience new things."

Ben-Ishay's bet is that the kits carry the brand's core promise into consumers' kitchens. "We feel that we have real opportunity to continue to create moments of joy, love and human connection," she said. "I think we're at a time when the world needs that more than ever before, and that's what these baking kits do."

Whether holiday shoppers translate fandom into pantry purchases is the question Target's sell-through data will answer by January.