Most brands ask people to buy. Product drops make people want to belong. It’s the thrill of being early, included, part of something not everyone gets.
Sometimes, you want a fresh-baked cookie. Not two dozen of them. Not a freezer full of them. Just one.
That’s how Gabby and Elise Brulotte came up with Hot Take: single-serve, high-quality cookie dough you can bake one at a time. What started in ’s family kitchen is now a cult-favorite brand built on drops, collabs, and community.
You can’t scale if you do it all yourself. For years, Gabby shipped thousands of pounds of dough herself. The breaking point came when pallets wouldn’t fit through the door and physical constraints were capping growth. Partnering with a copacker freed them to focus on the business instead of burning out.
Let your audience tell you what they want. When TikTok exploded in 2020, it put Hot Take in front of thousands of dessert‑hungry audiences. Followers on Instagram also inform Hot Take products in real-time, through live follow polls on flavors and preferences.
Treat every product launch like a drop. Hot Take’s biggest buzz didn’t come from ads or retail placement — it came from partnerships. Collabs with Paige Lorenze and Tony’s Chocolonely brought in new audiences and made them feel part of something special.
Grow on your own terms. Hot Take started as a side hustle with a $5,000 investment. Instead of chasing fast rollouts ans scale, they’re pacing themselves. “We love living good lives too,” Gabby says. “We’re figuring out how to build this in a way that feels good for us and for the people working with us.”
Market insight → The “drop model” isn’t just for streetwear anymore. Food founders who create moments, not just products, turn scarcity into community and hype into loyalty.
Let’s cookie dough and go
Turn launches into drops
Scarcity is a feature, not a flaw. Treat every launch like an event, with a clear moment, capped supply, and a reason to talk about it.
Pick a collab partner with fan overlap.
Tease early with UGC, email, and social.
Cap supply and set a clear launch time.
Measure sell-out speed, not just total units.
Fan energy scorecard
Revenue tells you what happened. Fan energy tells you what’s coming next. Track the signals that show whether people are treating your brand like a product or a movement.
Sell-out speed (minutes, hours, days)
Repeat buyers vs. one-timers
Collab reach and engagement
Organic mentions and UGC volume