How Cinnabon adapted its business model during the pandemic

Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma spoke with Cinnabon President Kristen Hartman to discuss how Cinnabon has been impacted by the pandemic and how the company continues to adapt its business model as COVID cases surge.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: I want to shift our focus over to a much tastier topic here, as we approach the holiday season, of course there's some new efforts underway over at Cinnabon, as that brand celebrates 35 years of fan favorite in malls and rest stops across the country. But this year, as COVID shattered those high traffic areas, the company shifting a bit to reach customers in their homes. And Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma has the details on that. Brooke?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Absolutely, Zack. And this is not a story that we're just seeing at Cinnabon. We saw other brands, like Shake Shack, really pivot to deliver those at-home goods with a burger kit earlier this year, as well as Focus Brands' other subsidiaries, including Auntie Anne with those at-home delivery kits, and Jamba Juice, as well as Moe's Southwestern Grills.

All these places in those high traffic areas really making a shift, and I actually spoke with Kristin Hartman, and she is the president at Cinnabon Brands, and she told me that earlier in 2020, they did in fact launch on those third delivery platforms. But as soon as COVID hit back in March, they quickly worked with franchisees in order to bring their products to at-home consumers. And they said that that shift certainly did pay off. Since March, those third party sales have increased for Cinnabon alone, and in addition to that, they said that those sales offset the decline of those high foot traffic areas, and actually made sales relatively flat. So a major success story on that front.

AKIKO FUJITA: All right, Brooke. You got me thinking about Cinnabon now. Certainly getting hungry. Thanks so much for bringing us that.