UK’s Hummingbird Bakery Signs with Beanstalk
The Hummingbird Bakery, an American-style baking brand in the UK, announced its plans to expand into new product categories through licensing with the signing of Beanstalk.
Beanstalk will be looking for licensing partners across a range of food and non-food items including ice cream, chocolate, biscuits, cake decorations, syrups, and flavored teas as well as authentic American bakeware, kitchen textiles, and kitchen appliances.
Known for its freshly baked cupcakes, pies, and other American-inspired treats, The Hummingbird Bakery opened its first London branch in 2004.
Grounded in the nostalgic notion of quintessential American baking, the company is known for its indulgent product offerings and the style of its bakery branches. The brand has five London bakeries as well as the three cookbooks, The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, Cake Days, and Home Sweet Home, which have collectively sold more than one million copies in the UK alone.
Mighty Fine Signed for Tamagotchi L.i.f.e.
Bandai Co., Ltd., and its North American marketing representative Sync Beatz Entertainment, announced the signing of Mighty Fine, Inc., as the first licensee for its Tamagotchi L.i.f.e. line of lifestyle products. Mighty Fine will create a complete fashion apparel line for juniors and women, including activewear, T-shirts, bodysuits, dresses, fleece, pants, shorts, and skirts.
The agreement was brokered by Evolution USA, LLC, which serves as Sync Beatz Entertainment’s retail development and licensing partner for the Tamagotchi L.i.f.e. property in the U.S. The Mighty Fine alliance kicks off the next phase for this lifestyle brand, which is the introduction of a wide range of licensed products from home décor to accessories.
Dr. Seuss to Be Available as eBooks
Random House Children’s Books, the publisher of Dr. Seuss print books will now also publish the stories as ebooks beginning on September 24 and continuing throughout November. It is the first time the books will be available in this format.
Fifteen classics will make their debut as ebooks in September, including The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham; Oh, the Places You’ll Go!; Horton Hears a Who!; One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish; Dr. Seuss’s ABC; Fox in Socks; Hop on Pop; Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?; Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!; The Cat in the Hat Comes Back; The Foot Book; There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!; The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins; and The Lorax. Additional titles will be released in October and November.
Each of the forthcoming Random House Children’s Books ebooks will preserve Dr. Seuss’s original layouts and illustrations from their print editions. They also will be published simultaneously as Read & Listen editions that feature brand-new audio recordings of the full text.
Cuddle Barn Signs Lil BUB
Cuddle Barn announced its partnership with internet cat sensation Lil BUB. Under the terms of the agreement brokered by HAP Consulting, Cuddle Barn will transform the real life character into feature plush. The first product is expected to be on shelf in spring 2014. The line is part of wider licensing, media, and philanthropic plan for Lil BUB.