Cinnabon fans who feel the only thing missing from a giant icing-topped cinnamon roll is soft-serve ice cream can finally rejoice.
GoTo Foods is launching the long-awaited Cinnabon Swirl concept next month, a fully blended variation on the existing indulgent-baked-goods concept Cinnabon and the nearly 100-year-old ice cream-chain Carvel, which are sister brands.
The Atlanta-based company describes the new brand as its “first-ever original concept,” though, really, it’s more of a mashup.
Still, the company is thinking of it as a separate brand. The first Cinnabon Swirl unit is scheduled to open in May in Hillsboro, Oregon, and the company said there are 30 more locations in the pipeline, including three more scheduled to open this year in Arizona, Georgia and California.
The Cinnabon Swirl concept has been in development for some time. The first was supposed to open last year in Hawaii, but construction there has proven to be “a moving target,” officials said. As a result, the Oregon location will mark the brand’s debut.
A rendering of the first Cinnabon Swirl. | Image courtesy of GoTo Foods.
It will also introduce Carvel ice cream to the West Coast. The brand is well known in the Northeast, but many in the western U.S. are unfamiliar with Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss. Cinnabon Swirl could serve as an entry point for the ice cream brand.
Jim Holthouser, GoTo Foods’ CEO, said the global recognition of Cinnabon and the passionate fan base of Carvel positions the brand well to become “the most irresistible dessert destination” in the industry.
The move comes even as GoTo Foods leans into co-branding with these and other brands within the portfolio. Formerly known as Focus Brands, GoTo Foods is the parent to Auntie Anne’s, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, Schlotzsky’s and Moe’s Southwest Grill, in addition to Cinnabon and Carvel. The group changed its name to GoTo Foods last year in a multi-year transformation as the company sets the stage for franchise growth domestically and overseas.
Holthouser said GoTo Foods signed a record 1,177 franchise agreements last year, including 353 co-branding deals. Across the seven brands, more than 475 net new units opened for a total of roughly 6,600.
Co-branding makes the typically mall-based snack brands, like Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s and Carvel, more viable as standalone concepts, Holthouser contends. The company is working toward getting all seven—now really eight, with Cinnabon Swirl—on the same digital platform and point of sales system, for example, to ease that collaboration across brands.
“GoTo Foods has a unique competitive advantage by operating as a dynamic platform company with powerful enterprise engines, including supply chain, technology and revenue management,” Holthouser said in a statement regarding the Cinnabon Swirl launch. “This company is about to propel the success of our current portfolio of brands while also being able to instantly provide new concepts like Cinnabon Swirl with elevated resources to help drive the business.”
On the menu at Cinnabon Swirl will be signature items not found at the individual brands, like the Bonini, an ice cream sandwich between two pressed cinnamon rolls that are warm.
There’s also a Cinnabon Swirl Sundae, which features the warm, “center swirls” of a classic Cinnabon roll, chopped and topped with vanilla soft serve and a caramel drizzle. The center swirls are where the cinnamon sugar collects for an extra punch of flavor.
A sundae combines the best inner-bits of a cinnamon roll with soft serve. | Photo courtesy of GoTo Foods.
The menu will also feature ice cream sandwiches with Carvel soft serve between two chocolate chip cookies, as well as premium pints of soft serve swirled with toppings.
The Oregon location will also feature two limited-edition soft-serve flavors each month, starting with Birthday Cake and Cold Brew, available in a cup, cone or sandwich through May 31.
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