Baked by Melissa

Baked by Melissa is a chain of bakeries founded by Melissa Ben-Ishay in 2008, specializing in "bite-size" miniature cupcakes. As of 2024, Baked by Melissa has 14 locations in the New York City metropolitan area and Boston.

History
Baked by Melissa was founded when Melissa Ben-Ishay lost her job in advertising in 2008. She went to her brother's office, and he told her it was the best thing that had ever happened to her before telling her to go home and bake her cupcakes. Melissa went to the grocery store near her Murray Hill apartment to get flavor inspiration, then sent the cupcakes to work with her best friend's sister who was interning at Alison Brod PR. That afternoon, Melissa got a call from Brod’s caterer, who became one of the co-founders.

Initially, the company baked and sold cupcakes through catering companies. Melissa baked all of the cupcakes in her apartment until November 2008, when she moved into the basement of Cafe Bari. That winter, she sold the cupcakes at holiday markets around New York, selling out every day.

The first Baked by Melissa location opened on March 9, 2009; it was a pop-up window at Cafe Bari in SoHo, Manhattan. The same year, Florence Fabricant said that Baked by Melissa “seems to have succeeded at the near-impossible challenge of finding something new to do with cupcakes. ”

In 2015, Melissa wrote her first cookbook, Cakes by Melissa, published by the William Morrow imprint of HarperCollins. Her second cookbook, Come Hungry: Salads, Meals, and Sweets for People Who Live to Eat, was released in January 2024.

Melissa’s brother Brian Bushell was the CEO of Baked by Melissa until 2015. Melissa was named CEO on December 5, 2019.

In 2017, the company gave away 150,000 cupcakes in a project called Side With Love; people in the US could send a box of 25 cupcakes free of charge. The initiative was nominated for a Shorty Award for its impact on social media.

In 2018, Baked by Melissa created a special cupcake, which was sold in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

On social media
In 2021, Melissa went viral after posting a Green Goddess Salad to the Baked by Melissa TikTok account. As of January 2024, the video has 25.1 million views and became the #6 top recipe on Google in 2022.

Melissa has said that she doesn't follow a social media strategy, she responds to what her community wants to see.

Locations
As of 2024, Baked by Melissa has 14 stores in the New York metropolitan area and Boston. Its first full store opened in 2009 in Union Square, Manhattan. Many of the stores offer customers the opportunity to pick their own flavors, with bite-size cupcakes displayed in a pastry case.

The company ships its products nationwide, all made in its bakery in North Bergen, New Jersey.