Nearly two years ago, GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands) wowed franchisees from across the world when it officially introduced Cinnabon Swirl—a mashup of dessert concepts Cinnabon and Carvel—at its biennial global convention.
At that point, the company knew what it wanted the concept to stand for, what it should look like (a mixture of the two chains instead of a co-branded experience), and what should be showcased on the menu. The next step, and a comprehensive one at that, was to operationalize everything. For instance, GoTo Foods knew it wanted to sell ice cream sandwiches out of Cinnabon Swirl, but how are those going to be made and prepared? There was also work to be done on marketing materials, digital menuboards, how the brand would manifest itself on a mobile app and website, and how to transform architectural renderings into a reality.
After years of work, Cinnabon Swirl will be ready for the spotlight in 2024.
“Super excited about it because I just feel like we’re bringing the best of two amazing worlds together between Cinnabon and Carvel,” says Kristen Hartman, who leads GoTo Food’s specialty brands. “Since we conceived it, which was right at conference time two years ago, we spent this time really making sure that we’re getting it right. We’ve got the design right. We’ve got the menu right. In the consumer research, people absolutely love this idea of bringing the best of baked goods and the best of ice cream together.”
Cinnabon Swirl menu highlights include Bonini (Cinnabon classic roll meets Carvel vanilla soft serve), Cinnabon Swirl Sundae (center swirls of a Cinnabon classic roll chopped and topped with Carvel vanilla soft serve and a caramel drizzle), and Ice Cream Sandwiches in a variety of flavors including chocolate fudge and vanilla.
The first location will debut in Hawaii during the third quarter, assuming construction timelines remain on track. A longtime operator of Cinnabon will oversee the store. Although Cinnabon Swirl is supposed to be a streetside concept, the inaugural edition will be a mall-based store—a venue where Cinnabon already has a lot of equity.
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“Because he’s such a good operator, we said, ‘Well, that will be a great opportunity for us to try it with somebody who will help us learn and grow the concept,'” Hartman says.
The second unit, scheduled to open in Oregon sometime in Q4, will be a traditional streetside shop. It will reside near a Jamba and Auntie Anne’s co-branded store, meaning all four specialty chains will be in one place.
Hartman says the company hasn’t set specific numbers for how many Cinnabon Swirl locations it will open, but the plan is a long time coming. Before COVID arrived, GoTo Foods knew it wanted to take its snack brands into new territories, including Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon building streetside locations in addition to mall-based units and Jamba and Carvel opening outside of core trade areas.
During the pandemic, GoTo Foods began conducting research with consumers on what they thought of the different chains and co-branded combinations. When guests saw the possibility of Carvel and Cinnabon joining forces, “they lit up,” Hartman says.
“They started to essentially help us build the concept,” she says. “And so we feel like from the research, consumers were so positive about it that once we get these things open, we’re going to see that positive response.
” … The way that we’re looking at it is, and this again came from the consumer research, even if somebody doesn’t know of the brand Carvel, there’s love of ice cream,” the executive adds. “And so you’ve got the awareness of Cinnabon on and you’ve got love of ice cream if they don’t know of Carvel. Then you pair that with many people who are from the northeast and are living in different areas. When they see Carvel, they get really excited about it. So we don’t know that it’ll open up the territory for Carvel, standalone locations. We think it’s more about opening up the territory for Cinnabon Swirl featuring Carvel.”
The future grand opening of Cinnabon Swirl comes amid a big change for the company. GoTo Foods announced its name change in February, culminating years of work to transform itself into a connected platform of seven concepts that share marketing, digital, and operational practices.
Since 2020, GoTo Foods has earned systemwide sales of more than $4.2 billion and garnered $1.5 billion from licensing partners.
In 2023 specifically, the company experienced double-digit year-over-year growth in adjusted EBITDA and loyalty acquisition. Additionally, a streamlined in-house supply chain resulted in the rationalization of hundreds of SKUs across brands, dollars spent on paid media more than doubled compared to 2022, and the CPG licensing business drove revenue and awareness with 10 new launches.
GoTo Foods signed more than 1,150 franchise agreements and opened 398 restaurants while adding 4.6 million new loyalty members worldwide. The company has over 2,000 nontraditional units in the U.S. and more than 2,000 international locations in 60-plus countries. Altogether, there is a pipeline of more than 3,000 restaurants.
With more multi-unit growth, co-branding, and nontraditional development on the horizon, consider Cinnabon Swirl just another tool in the toolkit.
“[Consumers] love to snack, they love to treat,” Hartman says. “You look at other concepts that are growing streetside and they’re growing rapidly. And so we really feel like this as an alternative destination will be something consumers will gravitate to. And that’s what the research told us as well.”
