King's Hawaiian is rolling out Soft Swirl Cinnamon Bites at major grocery retailers nationwide, its second entry in a snacking segment the family-owned bakery brand entered in 2024 with Soft Pretzel Bites. The addition signals a deliberate push by the brand to extend its retail footprint beyond bread and buns into the broader better-for-snacking category.
The Product
Soft Swirl Cinnamon Bites feature cinnamon swirl baked into each piece, delivering what the brand describes as a not-too-sweet cinnamon flavor inside the signature soft, fluffy King's Hawaiian dough. The bites are available in tubs alongside the existing Pretzel Bites and can be eaten at room temperature or warmed. King's Hawaiian Chief Marketing Officer Raouf Moussa positioned morning snacking as the primary target occasion, calling Cinnamon Bites "an exciting addition, bringing the King's Hawaiian experience fans know and love to an entirely new sweet occasion."
The Campaign
To drive awareness, King's Hawaiian tapped Taylor Hanson — of the iconic 1990s pop-rock trio Hanson — to reimagine the band's smash hit "MMMBop" as "MMMBites" ahead of that song's 30th anniversary. The campaign, titled "Mmoments," centers on a series of humorous video spots showing Hanson sharing the bites during relatable everyday frustrations, from Monday mornings to middle-seat airplane rides. The first spot, Mmondays, debuted September 7. "MMMBop has been stuck in people's heads as a feel-good bop for decades," Hanson said, "and while we've had opportunities to reinvent it over the years, none ever felt quite right until now." Creative agency Erich & Kallman and PR firm Alison Brod Marketing & Communications developed the campaign.
Why It Matters for Operators
For foodservice and grocery buyers, the Cinnamon Bites launch reflects a broader industry trend: established center-store bakery brands leveraging existing dough expertise and brand equity to compete in the high-growth snacking daypart. King's Hawaiian's move into sweet snack bites mirrors strategies other legacy baking brands have pursued to diversify revenue as traditional bread sales face pressure. The brand, founded more than 75 years ago in Hilo, Hawaii, already holds the top position among branded rolls in the United States — a base of consumer trust that gives new product launches a meaningful shelf-velocity advantage at retail.
For restaurant and hospitality operators tracking food and beverage snacking trends, the Cinnamon Bites introduction also underscores the durability of the "morning snack" daypart, a segment that has drawn significant product development investment across foodservice and retail alike. Operators sourcing branded bakery items for amenity programs, catering, or grab-and-go sections will find the King's Hawaiian format — a ready-to-eat, portion-friendly tub — worth watching as consumer familiarity builds through retail. Industry observers covering bakery and snack innovation in hospitality have noted that recognizable consumer brands increasingly inform what guests expect on menus and in foodservice settings.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
