Mass. bakery says it keeps selling out of ‘F— ICE’ cookies, despite death threats

Business is booming like never before at a Western Massachusetts bakery thanks to some politically charged confections.

The Sweet Boutique, a bakery and coffee shop in East Longmeadow, has attracted attention for its expletive-laden cookies protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Frosted on the cookies and adorned with pink hearts and ribbons is a clear message: “F— ICE.”

The bakery first shared the cookies on Facebook earlier this month, prompting a slew of both positive and negative responses.

Niki Moran, the bakery’s owner, told Western Mass News that strangers posted her home address online, threatened to assault her employees, wished death on her family, and said they would burn down her bakery. Though she has continued to use her business as a political platform, she said that the intensity of the backlash rattled her.

“People have wished illness and death on my family and my children,” Moran said. “We’ve gotten a lot of death threats, hoping me and all my female employees get raped and my male employees get robbed, that they’re going to lock me in the building and burn the place down with me inside.”

Since then, police have gotten involved and safety protocols have been implemented, Western Mass News reported. However, it seems the support is winning out for now, as Moran’s baked goods are selling faster than ever.

The Sweet Boutique was nearly completely sold out less than three hours after opening Wednesday, the bakery said in a Facebook post. By 1:30, every last cookie, cupcake, and slice of pie had been bought, and the bakery closed early.

“You all really showed up for us today!” the bakery wrote on Facebook. “[W]e are doing our best to restock as fast as we can but we are out of decorated cookies (more tomorrow) and we had to turn off DoorDash for possibly the rest of the week but we will keep you updated on that!!”

They sold out the next day, too, with a line forming Thursday half an hour before the bakery opened. Despite having double the amount of cookies available, they were all gone within 16 minutes, the bakery said on Facebook.

To express their gratitude for the support, The Sweet Boutique has given back to the causes they are supporting, they said Thursday. The earnings from the social media engagement, along with some of their profits from the cookies, have been donated to the Immigrant Defense Project, an organization which provides legal advice and educational training for immigrants.

The Sweet Boutique announced Thursday afternoon that they will be closed Friday because they are sold out of “absolutely every single thing” and need time to restock. When they reopen Saturday, they are hoping to continue riding the wave of support that the anti-ICE cookies have brought them.

“This is the coolest and scariest thing that’s ever happened to us!” the bakery wrote. “I love that that power of social media has allowed us to do this AND the overwhelming support has been incredible to witness.”