A Taste of Doughnuts: Trendy Shops & Exciting Flavors
April 9, 2015Fried, baked, yeast, cake, frosted, filled, classic flavors or eccentric gourmet creations — doughnuts are everywhere!
FLAVOR SPOTTING
CHICAGO
Firecakes
• Maple Glazed Pineapple & Bacon
• Butterscotch Praline
• Malted Milk Ball
• Valrhona Chocolate (premium French chocolate) & Espresso Cream
Swedish Bakery
• Cardamom Sugar Ring
• Coconut Custard
Doughnut Vault
• Wedding Cake
• Cookies n Cream
• Lemon Poppyseed
Stan’s Donuts
• Biscoff Banana
• Maple Caramel Bacon
• Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel
• Lemon Pistachio
PORTLAND
VooDoo Doughnuts
• Tang
• Bubble Gum
• Lemonade & Iced Tea
• Grape with Lavender Sprinkles
• Chocolate Doughnut with Cinnamon Sugar and Cayenne Pepper
LONDON
Glazed and Confused
• Kiwi
• Sticky Toffee Pudding
TREND SPOTTING
CUSTOMIZATION
The Fractured Prune, Ocean City, MD
While The Fractured Prune has been in business since 1976, their “interactive, custom, fresh” doughnut shop model with 19 glazes and 13 toppings speaks directly to today’s consumers who seek to make experiences their own.
Glazes: Key Lime, Mocha, Marshmallow
Toppings: Sea Salt, Bacon, Vanilla Wafers
Beaver’s Donuts, Chicago
While there isn’t flavor mixing and matching, these bite-sized doughnuts are made to order, so they’re served fresh out of the fryer, topped with your flavors of choice.
Glazes: Cinnamon, Powdered, Granulated, Chocolate
16 Topping Combinations: Strawberry Sauce & Pop Rocks, Marshmallow & Rice Krispies
CONSCIOUSNESS
West Town Bakery, Chicago
The “Who We Are” section of their website expounds on these five principles:
1. Always local, organic, and sustainable ingredients.
2. Business as green as our baked goods.
3. We bake for everyone.
4. Vegan - Nut-free - Soy-free - Gluten-free (They can accommodate these needs.)
5. Everything tastes as good as it looks.
SWEET & SAVORY
Hurts Donuts, Wichita, KS
• Local Beer
• Sausage & Gravy
• Jalapeño and Cream Cheese Stuffed Doughnut with a Sriracha Glaze
Duck & Waffle, London, England
• Spicy Ox Cheek with Apricot Jam
The blogger at Samphire and Salsify describes her experience this way: “The rich ox cheek and the sweet donut covered in a spice rub was absolutely divine. The sharp tangy apricot jam cut through the sweetness perfectly. Meat donuts are my new favorite thing!”
The Chiltern Firehouse, London, England
• Feted Crab
Marina O’Loughlin, restaurant critic for The Guardian describes these savory doughnuts as “savoury kinda-profiteroles stuffed with white crab meat” and dredged in sugar.
PREMIUM
JP Then, founder of Crosstown Doughnuts in London, said in a UK Telepgraph article that he believes people are drawn to “top quality ingredients that are relevant and timely” and that “filled doughnuts, with their explosion of flavor in the center, are the perfect vehicle for showcasing seasonal tastes.” Crosstown featured a spiced apple and pear crumble doughnut this winter and will look to seasonal fruits such as citrus, mangoes and pineapples in warm weather. “We’ve realized people really respond to freshness and flavor. We’ve simply put this into doughnut form,” he said.
For Justin Gellatly, owner of Bread Ahead and also featured in the Telepgrah article, high-quality ingredients are the key to a great doughnut. “We use amazing ingredients. For a custard doughnut, I use 14 ingredients, not the 40-plus ingredients which are in a supermarket doughnut. We use good flour, sexy butter and delicious salt.”
NEW JERSEY
Glaze Artisan Doughnuts
“We pridefully cook our doughnuts to perfection in small batches throughout the day, using only the highest quality natural ingredients — with no preservatives, HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) or artificial coloring.”
• Cannoli
• Cotton Candy
• Twinkie
• French Toast
LONDON
St. John Bakery
• Bay Leaf Custard Bread Ahead
• Salted Caramel Sprinkled with Honeycomb
• Salted Caramel Sprinkled with Honeycomb
1235 Donuts
• Blackcurrant Leaf Custard
• Homemade Blackberry Jam
• Blackcurrant Leaf Custard
• Homemade Blackberry Jam
THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE (DOUGHNUT) BOX
SAN DIEGO, CA
Big Poppa Tart Donut from Donut Bar
Two inches high and weighing one pound, this creation involves stuffing a strawberry Pop Tart into a cinnamon sugar doughnut. “Bakers then fill it with strawberry jam, add a cake batter glaze and top it off with more crumbled Pop Tarts, strawberry and sprinkles.”
WICHITA, KS
Sloppy Jonuts from Hurts Donuts
Sloppy Joe’s are served up on doughnuts.
KANSAS CITY, KS
Kansas City Doughnut Dog
“With the help of Krispy Kreme, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, a Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, has rolled out a new hot dog, called the doughnut dog: a doughnutty bun wrapped around a wiener, covered in bacon and jelly.”
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FONA CAN HELP!
Let FONA’s market insight and research experts translate these trends into product category ideas for your brand. They can help you with concept and flavor pipeline development, ideation, consumer studies and white space analysis to pinpoint opportunities in the market. Our flavor and product development experts are also at your service to help meet the labeling and flavor profile needs for your products to capitalize on this consumer trend. We understand how to mesh the complexities of flavor with your brand development, technical requirements and regulatory needs to deliver a complete taste solution.
CONTACT OUR SALES SERVICE DEPARTMENT at 630.578.8600 to request a flavor sample or visit www.fona.com.