An Epic Retail Food Brand Story: Tate’s Bake Shop

Retail Food Brand Story: The Ups and Downs of Kathleen King’s Baking Brand(s)

For an entrepreneur like me, How I Built is one engaging podcast. I look forward to hearing the backstories of famous brands from the perspective of the founder. Kathleen King’s story of how she built not one but two cookie brands in Kathleen’s Bake Shop, then Tate’s Bake Shop, is one epic retail food brand story that does not disappoint.

Own a Food Brand? You Should Listen

If you are trying to grow your food brand in the retail or foodservice channel, it may help to listen to someone who has successfully navigated the waters and ended up very, very rich. Which is particularly relevant if you plan to one day sell your brand.

How I Built This highlights several famous epic retail food brand growth stories.  I just finished listening to the Tat’s Bake Shop story. Go to the website for the sweet, cleaned-up version of the story. But go to the podcast to hear how founder Kathleen King built two successful brands.

Started Baking Farm-Stand Cookies at Age 8. Never Stopped.

This is a captivating, yet pragmatic story of how Kathleen inherited a hand-me-down job from her older sisters – baking cookies to sell at their family farm stand – and grew that into the Kathleen’s Bake Shop brand. Then she lost that brand in a bad business deal, and 20 years after starting, Kathleen’s Bake Shop started from scratch to launch Tate’s Bake Shop.

Any of this sound familiar to your retail food brand growth story?

The second time around Kathleen was smarter with hard work, and the right people in place sold her controlling stake for $100 million. Then a few years later, the brand was sold to Mondelez for half a billion dollars.

Check out the full podcast and check back here for other retail food brand growth podcasts I think may help you see the big picture.

Are you a growth-minded food brand looking to grow your retail brand? Please reach out to the NewPoint team — interested in food marketing topics? Please visit our “Intel” page or check out my book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.