Cincinnati-based Doughlicious is pushing two limited-edition holiday SKUs into major U.S. retail channels, stress-testing a clean-label frozen-snack formulation platform built on oat flour, gluten-free oats, and a no-artificial-colors, no-artificial-flavors, no-preservatives positioning. The moves signal an accelerating retail expansion for a brand that began manufacturing in London before relocating production stateside.
Product Architecture
The 12-Day Advent Calendar — priced at $11.99 and exclusive to Target starting December 1 — packages 12 individually portioned cookie dough and gelato bites, each at 100 calories. Three SKUs in the lineup are existing retail flavors; nine are calendar-exclusive formulations. The roster spans Gingerbread, Eggnog, Cereal Milk, Snickerdoodle, Caramel Kettle Corn, Vegan Chocolate Truffle, Pumpkin Pie Crumble, Cookies & Cream, Peppermint White Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Bûche de Noël, and a co-developed Rotten Cherry Bomb — the result of a brand collaboration with candy maker Rotten®. That flavor pairs sour cherry cookie dough around vanilla gelato and finishes with Rotten's Sour Crunchies inclusions, illustrating how the base dough matrix can accept acid-coated confectionery inclusions without compromising the 100-calorie target.
The standalone Peppermint White Chocolate Cookie Dough & Gelato Bites enters Whole Foods Market and select additional U.S. retailers at a promotional suggested retail price of $4.99, available from early November. At 100 calories per serving, the SKU extends a single base formulation — oat-flour cookie dough enrobing a gelato core, finished with a peppermint white chocolate coating — into a seasonal flavor profile that aligns with Whole Foods' better-for-you freezer set criteria.
Formulation & Supply Context
Both products are manufactured at Doughlicious's Cincinnati facility, giving the brand domestic cold-chain control as it scales into national accounts. The oat-flour base underpins the brand's gluten-free claim and provides a lower-allergen profile relative to wheat-based dough formats — a relevant differentiator for co-manufacturers and contract-manufacturing partners evaluating freezer-snack line extensions. The clean-label stack — no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives — positions the products within the better-for-you frozen snack segment that has drawn consistent retailer shelf investment over the past several years.
Founder Kathryn Bricken framed the advent calendar as an R&D vehicle, noting that the format allows the team to commercialize experimental flavor builds alongside core SKUs. That approach is functionally useful: limited-distribution, short-run SKUs such as advent-calendar exclusives can validate a flavor formulation's consumer acceptance before a brand commits to full-run production minimums and broader retail distribution agreements. For ingredient suppliers and co-manufacturers monitoring emerging frozen-snack players, Doughlicious represents a scaling platform with an appetite for novel inclusion systems, flavor collaborations, and seasonal differentiation.
The Rotten collaboration also demonstrates a growing category dynamic: confectionery-brand ingredient integration into frozen snack formats, where inclusion suppliers can access new application categories beyond traditional candy retail. Rotten Founder and CEO Michael Fisher cited the partnership as a strategic channel-extension play, describing it as "a unique way to sneak our world into places people already love."
For retailers and buyers evaluating frozen-snack planogram additions, both SKUs carry the brand's existing clean-label credentials and are positioned within premium impulse and gifting price points. Operators sourcing for foodservice or hospitality dessert programs should note that current availability is retail-channel specific, with no announced foodservice distribution.
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.
