Cupcake Giant Baked by Melissa on Supercharging DTC Sales and Social Media Reach to Drive Business

Why it matters:

• Baked by Melissa, which disrupted the cupcake market with bite-size confections in offbeat flavors, is now emphasizing e-commerce, authentic social media content, and a more thoughtful approach to physical stores for growth.
• New CFO Sanjay Khetan, who brings two decades of experience from multinational CPG and food-tech startups, is charged with accelerating Baked by Melissa’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) business and unlocking more new revenue streams, such as content partnerships with brands from Tabasco to Squishmallows.
• A social strategy that included content like day-in-the-life videos of Founder Melissa Ben-Ishay cooking meals for her family saw followers surge 6000% in five years.

Almost 17 years ago, Baked by Melissa carved a niche in New York City’s saturated cupcake market with bite-sized treats, innovative flavors, and a distinctive tie-dye design. The endeavor started out as a comfort and distraction for Melissa Ben-Ishay, CEO and Co-founder, who baked cupcakes for friends and family in her Murray Hill, Manhattan, apartment after being fired from a media planning job at age 24. After partnering with her brother, Brian Bushell, to create a business for the baked goods, Ben-Ishay soon was fulfilling online orders on foot or via subway, picking up catering orders, and eventually opening her first retail location, a pick-up window in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Now, the baked goods giant—estimated to have sold 400 million cupcakes since its inception—is ready for another turning point in growth. On the heels of a skyrocketing social media following, Baked by Melissa is embracing a self-described “supercharged” direct-to-consumer growth strategy and adding firepower to the C-suite by bringing on a former PepsiCo executive.

Baked by Melissa’s social media strategy pays off

Ben-Ishay assumed the helm as CEO at her eponymous business in December 2019 (the role was previously held by Co-founder and brother Brian Bushell, followed by Seth Horowitz, formerly of Modell’s Sporting Goods). Since then, she’s captained Baked by Melissa sales through a pandemic that would challenge, and ultimately help reinvent, the company’s messaging and strategy.

Before the pandemic, Baked by Melissa was focused on 14 retail locations, plus online sales. With shutdowns and stay-at-home mandates, it instantly became a 100% e-commerce brand.

The product already shipped nationwide, with gift boxes for every occasion and freshness guaranteed, so the marketing pivoted its messaging to sentiments like, “If you can’t celebrate/share love in person, send cupcakes.”

As the social audience grew, Baked by Melissa used that messaging to drive brand awareness. “Then we strategically brought [customers] into the brand ecosystem through paid social media and other more traditional marketing tactics,” she continued.

A new, perhaps counterintuitive, content strategy helped the pivot. Ben-Ishay explained that, before COVID, Baked by Melissa’s TikTok content consisted of cupcake-focused videos and dessert recipes, but it wasn’t performing.

When the pandemic hit, like many others, Ben-Ishay spent time cooking meals for her family and started posting videos of those recipes on her personal TikTok. So she tested them on the Baked by Melissa account. “Engagement increased immediately, then various salad videos quickly went viral, including my Green Goddess, with over 25 million views,” she recalled.

“I knew it was important to build a community of people who trust us and consistently come back for quality content, so I continued to post more of what worked: nourishing meals designed to deliver the perfect bite, just like our cupcakes. This is what propelled our social growth.”

Propelled might be an understatement: The company’s social media following across channels has hit over 4 million users, an eye-popping increase of over 6000% since 2020. The brand’s TikTok following alone has grown from 26,000 followers to 2.5 million in the past five years.

[Read more: Cooking Convenience Trends Are Driving Sales for Food and Beverage Companies]

New CFO from Pepsi and Wonder charged with DTC growth with the website as our flagship store

With surging brand awareness and deepening consumer connections underpinning Baked by Melissa’s DTC plans, enter a new strategic financial leader. As of April 1, 2025, Sanjay Khetan joined as Chief Financial Officer after 15 years at PepsiCo, most recently as VP, CFO of e-commerce, and a stint at buzzy food delivery and takeout platform Wonder as Chief Production Officer. “He's joining the team at a critical inflection point for our company's growth,” noted Ben-Ishay.

Meeting customers where they are is the objective. “That’s the drive behind supercharging DTC,” explained Khetan, whose breadth of work provides the financial, strategic, and operational background to apply to Baked by Melissa’s still-unfolding new growth strategies. Khetan will work with Ben-Ishay and Chief Growth Officer Joy Peabody to increase distribution points across all channels and capitalize on new opportunities. He will also oversee operations to drive increased efficiency and productivity within the manufacturing operations.

“I’ve helped to drive profitable growth at various stages of scale and automation and learned lessons along the way, such as knowing where and when to invest in operations to drive efficiency, pivoting quickly to support evolving consumer preferences, and evaluating new and unique growth opportunities,” he told CO—.

Baked by Melissa currently operates 11 physical stores throughout Manhattan; as well as locations at JFK international airport in Queens, New York City; Garden City, New York; and Paramus, New Jersey, but thoughtful expansion will be the approach for any new brick-and-mortar locations, with an eye on supporting efforts to expand distribution points and reach more customers, said Khetan. “Retail has and will continue to play an important role in our strategy of meeting customers where they are,” he added.

Still, e-commerce is center stage in future growth and has stayed a robust distribution channel even throughout brick-and-mortar expansion, comprising 50% of the company’s sales in recent years.

“I believe that prioritizing DTC and wholesale (B2B) while streamlining brick-and-mortar is the key to driving long-term success,” Ben-Ishay said. “We see our website as our flagship store.”

[Read more: How Food Giants Like Whole Foods and DoorDash Find Innovative Brands by Running Accelerators]

Authentic storytelling and brand partnerships uncork new revenue streams

Baked by Melissa will continue to lean into a social media strategy of authentic content. “As the face behind the Baked by Melissa brand, it feels natural to share behind-the-scenes clips, product launches, and day-in-the-life videos,” said Ben-Ishay. “It humanizes the brand and furthers a genuine connection to our audience.”

We will continue to use social media as a primary platform to connect with customers’ needs and wants, added Khetan. “As our social audience grows, Melissa will continue to use these platforms to connect and engage with our customers, feedback that will help better inform our DTC strategy.”

The expanded brand awareness has allowed Baked by Melissa to create new revenue streams through sponsored content and paid brand partnerships. In recent years, the company has partnered with companies like Tabasco, Cabot Creamery, and Squishmallows to create attention-getting cupcake flavors. More collaborations are on the horizon, though not ready for public reveal. “We see partnerships like the ones we’ve executed as fun and exciting ways to capitalize on and continue to grow our brand awareness and topline revenue,” said Khetan. “We have some exciting partnerships in the pipeline.”

‘Know what you don’t know and build a team’

As she adds strategic leadership and poises for new growth, Ben-Ishay has advice for other companies starting a business, baked goods or otherwise. “As a founder, make sure you surround yourself with people who possess the skills you lack,” she said. “Know what you don't know and build a team.”

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