The Deal
f'real, the blend-it-yourself frozen beverage brand owned by Rich Products Corporation, has launched the Golden OREO Birthday Cake Milkshake in a licensing agreement with Mondelēz International's OREO brand — marking the first time Golden OREO cookies have appeared in a licensed frozen beverage. The limited-time product is available beginning August 24 at a suggested retail price of $3.99 per 12-ounce cup.
Distribution and Retail Footprint
The shake is rolling out to more than 17,000 retail locations across the United States, spanning convenience stores, college campuses, and entertainment venues. Named accounts include Maverik, Kwik Trip, Sheetz, Circle K, Yesway, RaceTrac, Weigel's, and Royal Farms. That footprint makes f'real the No. 1 frozen novelty offering in the convenience channel — a segment where impulse-driven licensed tie-ins have proven especially effective at driving incremental traffic.
The Numbers Behind the Launch
The product pairing leans on two proven performers. OREO Cookies & Cream has held f'real's top-selling milkshake position for several consecutive years. On the licensor side, Golden OREO generated $243.5 million in annual retail sales in the 52 weeks ending June 22, 2024, per Nielsen AOC Plus Convenience data, with 99% brand recognition nationwide. Birthday Cake, the returning flavor at the center of the launch, has been f'real's most-requested SKU on social media since it came off shelves in 2023. "Birthday Cake is the flavor our fans have been asking for since the day it left shelves," said Megan Grinstead, Vice President of Customer & Consumer Brand Marketing at Rich Products. "Golden OREO cookies in a milkshake is brand new to f'real and OREO fans alike — it's a celebration-worthy flavor combination that delivers something new and exciting in every sip."
Channel and Format Strategy
For convenience and foodservice operators, the blend-it-yourself format is a key part of the value proposition. Consumers select a cup from the freezer, remove the lid, and place it in f'real's in-store blender — a patented system that produces a finished shake in roughly one minute with three selectable thickness levels. The self-serve model reduces labor requirements at the point of dispensing, a material consideration for high-traffic c-store and campus operators managing constrained staffing. The convenience-channel frozen beverage segment has attracted increased investment from branded manufacturers seeking to capture premium price points without requiring kitchen infrastructure.
The Golden OREO partnership also signals a broader licensing strategy for f'real and parent company Rich's, whose annual sales exceed $5.8 billion across foodservice, retail, and in-store bakery channels. Co-branded limited-time offers have become a reliable mechanism for food and beverage brands to generate social media velocity and retail sell-through without permanent supply chain commitments. Whether this launch serves as a test for a longer-term Golden OREO SKU in f'real's lineup was not disclosed.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
