Sweet Addison's gluten-free bakery projects $3M revenue in 2026 after launch from founder's kitchen

From finance to gluten-free baking

Addison LaBonte, a former finance professional, founded Sweet Addison's in January 2024 after leaving her job in the sector. According to Business Insider, she was laid off four months before launching the bakery, which specializes in gluten-free products.

LaBonte had been gluten-free for a decade and built an online audience of roughly 150,000 people before starting the business. This existing following helped her generate around $8,000 in sales in the first month of operations.

Rapid growth and operational scaling

Sweet Addison's began in LaBonte’s apartment kitchen and has since expanded to a team of 10 employees. The bakery now ships its products nationwide and is stocked in coffee shops across Dallas-Fort Worth and New York City, where it is available in four or five locations.

By 2026, the bakery is projected to exceed $3 million in revenue. LaBonte attributes part of this growth to cost-saving measures, such as avoiding custom-branded shipping boxes, and a focus on high-quality ingredients.

Social media and customer engagement as growth drivers

Sweet Addison's has amassed over 600,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. LaBonte spends one to two hours daily engaging with customers on these platforms, soliciting feedback on flavors and ingredients via Instagram stories.

Her strategy also includes collaborations with influencers and brands to accelerate growth. The bakery offers a subscription service, and LaBonte reports a high rate of repeat orders from customers.

What this means

Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

Sweet Addison's trajectory highlights how niche food startups can scale quickly by combining e-commerce with physical retail, even without venture funding. LaBonte’s approach—leveraging an existing audience, prioritizing customer engagement, and reinvesting in product quality—offers a playbook for founders in the food and beverage space, particularly those targeting health-conscious or dietary-specific markets. The bakery’s projected $3 million revenue by 2026 also signals strong consumer demand for gluten-free products, a segment that continues to expand beyond traditional health food stores.

Key takeaways

• Small food businesses can scale rapidly by leveraging social media and direct customer engagement, as demonstrated by Sweet Addison's growth.
• Founders transitioning from corporate roles can use existing audiences (e.g., LaBonte’s 150,000 pre-launch followers) to accelerate early traction.
• Cost-conscious strategies—like avoiding custom-branded packaging—can help bootstrap operations without sacrificing product quality.
• The gluten-free market continues to show strong demand, particularly for brands that combine e-commerce with physical retail presence.

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