Maintaining brand standards across hundreds of bakeries

As Nothing Bundt Cakes continued to expand, their Learning and Development team faced a challenge: how to deliver consistent, engaging training to every single franchise location and uphold their reputation for outstanding guest experiences. The existing tools at their disposal simply couldn’t keep up with the company’s growth, or its need for centralised communication.

From onboarding to compliance, Nothing Bundt Cakes wanted a unified way to train team members and ensure its standards were applied everywhere. As Karol Monge explains, “It’s about giving our team members a consistent training and onboarding experience, and helping them translate that learning into executing our brand standards.”

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Creating a central hub for learning and celebration

To meet these goals, Nothing Bundt Cakes partnered with Thrive to launch “Gather ‘Round”, a fully branded hub for learning, communication, and connection. The name reflects the brand’s purpose: gathering people together to celebrate life’s big moments, both in bakeries and beyond. “[Thrive is] a one-stop shop where team members can see what the new products should look like, the standards they need to meet, and any specific baking details,” says Karol. 

Through Gather ‘Round, team members access playlists, pathways, and videos covering everything from baking techniques to customer service. The platform pairs physical guidebooks with elearning content, making it easy for every employee to learn in a way that suits them best.

Eric Boenig, Director of Learning and Development, adds:

“All our communications go through Thrive. It’s vital to have a tool like this as we grow, because we want to make sure our standards are applied everywhere, and that everyone knows what’s going on in a timely fashion.”

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Consistent learning and stronger franchise connections

Since introducing Thrive, Nothing Bundt Cakes has transformed how it communicates and trains across its network. Compliance training, new product launches, and bakery updates all now live in one place – meaning the brand maintains consistency and quality as it grows.

Feedback from bakery teams has been overwhelmingly positive. “People tell us they love the content and find it so helpful,” says Karol. “The learning is easy to navigate, and our search function is amazing — way better than what we had before. It’s been a game changer for the organisation.”

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