Snack-Driven Shakeup Across Seven Brands

GoTo Foods is steering a snack-driven shift across America. With GoTo Foods as the umbrella for seven iconic brands—Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky’s Deli, and McAlister’s Deli—the company treats snacking as a core growth engine. The playbook isn’t just about more bites; it’s about extending dayparts, expanding audiences, and weaving snackable moments into everyday dining. As of December 29, 2024, the platform reported operating over 6,900 restaurants, cafes, ice cream shoppes and bakeries in the United States and in more than 65 countries. The scale, paired with non-traditional venues and co-branding, signals a full-on snack-forward strategy. So what does this mean for how Americans eat? It’s less about lunch or dinner and more about the snack-ready windows that pop up across the day.

“It drives so much trial and reaches so many broader audiences… Having the snack category pretty much covered off with everything from smoothies to pretzels to cinnamon rolls, we have a great value proposition and diverse product offering that we can deploy,” said Freeman. The narrative is anchored by scale: Auntie Anne’s has grown to more than 2,000 locations worldwide by March 30, 2025, and Cinnabon sits well above 2,300 locations globally. This is not cargo cult thinking—GoTo is betting on non-traditional venues and cross-brand promotions to keep snacks top of mind in mall corridors and beyond, everywhere from busy urban hubs to quieter off-premise pockets. The result is a snack-forward framework designed to meet shoppers where they are and when they crave a quick, tasty bite.

Industry sentiment mirrors leadership's view: consumer routines are evolving, and snacking is increasingly woven into daily life. Mike Freeman describes the snack surge as an opportunity to expand across dayparts and audiences, while emphasizing value-driven pricing strategies to offset macro headwinds. The shift is framed as a move away from a fixed lunch-dinner binary toward flexible, snack-forward moments that anchor off-premise and in-store activity. In this context, GoTo’s multi-brand approach—encompassing Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky’s Deli, and McAlister’s Deli—offers a diversified platform to test and scale snack-centric formats, from quick bites to beverage-led pairings. Executives describe snacking as a catalyst for cross-brand promotions and omnichannel growth, designed to weather economic variability with a broad menu canvas and disciplined pricing.

“Snacking is an omnichannel opportunity,” Freeman has noted in broader discussions. The narrative is reinforced by beverages, value, and cross-brand testing: Danielle Porto Parra of McAlister’s Deli emphasizes that “Tea is a core part of our heritage.” The message is clear—snacks are not a sidebar. They’re a mobility plan for afternoon and after-work footfall, anchored by a unified tech backbone and loyalty programs that sustain and amplify snack-driven traffic across the seven-brand platform.

Across the GoTo family, snacking is being embedded into core menus and footprints. Auntie Anne’s has rolled out new formats and co-branding opportunities designed to boost everyday snack occasions, including streamlined formats and non-traditional location strategies to capture mall-adjacent and off-mite traffic. The chain has publicly highlighted a refreshed store design to align with today’s snack-driven consumer, with emphasis on modular layouts and enhanced curb appeal. On the product side, Auntie Anne’s has experimented with bite-sized, shareable formats, including mozzarella-stuffed pretzel elements and bite-sized savory offerings that broaden perceived snacking occasions. Cinnabon is expanding catering appeal through quick-bite trays and co-branding opportunities, reinforcing the idea that cinnamon rolls can function as snacks, desserts, or meal accents in a broader snack strategy. Jamba is pursuing a deeper shift from light snacks toward fuller meals and meal replacements, aiming to attach more food to its beverage base, while Schlotzsky’s Deli has pursued a rebranding and prototype expansion that emphasizes grab-and-go stations, digital ordering, and a more snack-forward footprint that accommodates on-the-go consumers. Across the portfolio, McAlister’s Deli is leveraging its beverage heritage to cultivate snack-friendly footfall, with initiatives such as a tea-focused program designed to drive afternoon traffic. These moves reflect a deliberate, data-informed effort to knit snacks into everyday dining and to simplify operations for faster service.

- New formats – streamlined formats and co-branding to boost everyday snacking
- Bite-sized bites – mozzarella-stuffed pretzels and other shareables
- Catering and cross-branding – quick-bite trays and partnerships to extend reach
- Grab-and-go and digital – redesigned footprints and online ordering to speed service

Industry leaders see the snack push as a path to broader engagement and loyalty. Freeman frames it as an omnichannel strategy across brands, with cross-brand partnerships to reach new consumers. The technology backbone and loyalty programs are pitched as the wind that carries snack-driven traffic through seasons. The voices of the brand leaders—Freeman, Danielle Porto Parra, and Donna Varner—collectively illustrate a coherent, brand-led narrative that ties menu innovation to digital engagement and streamlined store concepts.

“Tea is a core part of our heritage,” said Danielle Porto Parra, Chief Brand Officer for McAlister’s Deli, underscoring how beverages and snacking intertwine to sustain afternoon traffic and incremental spend. Donna Varner of Schlotzsky’s Deli has reiterated that the redesigned footprint is well-suited for on-the-go consumers seeking a snack or light bite in the afternoon, with in-store formats optimized for grab-and-go. Taken together, these voices reflect a credible, brand-led strategy that couples menu innovation with digital engagement and streamlined store concepts.

Financial milestones across the GoTo Foods ecosystem illustrate the scale and momentum behind the snack push. In 2024, McAlister’s Deli crossed the $1 billion mark in systemwide sales, a milestone highlighted in a GoTo Foods press release. The portfolio now spans more than 6,700 to 6,900 locations across its brands at various points in 2023–2024, illustrating rapid expansion. Among the portfolio brands, Auntie Anne’s has grown to more than 2,000 locations by early 2025, while Cinnabon has surpassed 2,100–2,300 locations globally. In a related development, Auntie Anne’s announced a modernized store design in June 2025, reflecting ongoing investment in non-traditional formats and guest experience improvements. Taken together, these signals suggest a multi-year trajectory of growth anchored in network expansion, co-branding, and digital innovation.

The snacking momentum isn’t just a GoTo story—it signals a broader industry pattern: dayparts are expanding, value-driven promotions are common, and cross-brand collaborations are rising as a core growth engine. For operators, the takeaway is clear: remain nimble, balance experimentation with profitability, and maintain transparent franchise economics as the landscape shifts toward snack-forward, omnichannel growth that can weather inflation and shifting discretionary spend.