Chrisi Hammer is co-founder and CEO of Sunshine Buns, one of the fastest-rising frozen bakery brands in the country. Built from a family recipe created by her mother nearly 50 years ago, Sunshine Buns evolved from a small bakery in Orem, Utah, into a nationally distributed consumer packaged goods brand with products sold at Costco and expanding into major retailers including Target and Kroger.
Known for its fully baked, heat-and-eat cinnamon rolls and bold branding, Sunshine Buns is on a mission to reinvent the frozen breakfast aisle and bring sunshine to freezers across America.
Before launching Sunshine Buns, Hammer built and operated an interior design business and starred alongside her family in the HGTV pilot “The Family Hammer.” She is an entrepreneur, storyteller and brand builder known for turning big ideas into nationally scalable businesses.
A graduate of Utah Valley University with a degree in English, Hammer is a mother of five and a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, resilience and turning a family recipe into a national brand.
GROW TRACK: Breakout 4 | 2:30 p.m.
Scaling Fast but Smart
What does it take to scale a business from a family recipe to a national brand in just a few years?
In this session, Chrisi Hammer and Matt Hammer share how they transformed her mother’s 50-year-old cinnamon roll recipe into Sunshine Buns, one of the fastest-rising frozen bakery brands in the country. With products sold at Costco and expanding into major retailers including Target and Kroger, Sunshine Buns is on track to scale into more than 4,500 retail doors within the next 12 months and more than 10,000 doors in 2027.
Together, the Hammers will share the story behind rapid growth: how to manage cash, improve margins, build the right team, navigate investor conversations and create the operational systems needed to support national expansion. They will also discuss the mindset required to make bold decisions while staying disciplined enough to build a lasting business.
Attendees will leave with practical insights on fundraising, retail expansion, team building and how to grow fast, but smart.