bake - March 2018 - 8

cakesproduct success stories
new

Extreme Flavor
For all the talk about younger consumers exhibiting greater interest in healthy foods, the ﬂip side of the coin can be seen with
new product introductions that are focused on extreme ﬂavor.
Exhibit A is the wildly popular breakfast sandwich donuts
at Duck Donuts, one of the fastest-growing bakery chains in
America. The donut chain offers three kinds of breakfast sandwiches, all sandwiched between two donut halves. The most
popular is the sausage, egg and cheese topped with maple
icing and Hormel chopped bacon.
New menu items are a great way to get the attention of consumers, according to global information company NPD, and major
chains welcomed in 2018 with a variety of menu introductions.
"New items will drive traffic because there is a large group of
consumers who are curious and want to try something new,"
says Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst. "They'll try it
once and if it's really good, they'll be back for more."
With restaurant traffic stuck between a 1 percent increase and ﬂat
for several years now, U.S. restaurant chains are turning to value
deals and new menu items, such as Taco Bell's new Nacho Fries.
The secret to success for Duck Donuts is that it specializes in
warm, delicious and made-to-order cake donuts. Customers

DiGilio transformed a simple wish to enjoy a fresh, warm donut

can choose from a variety of topping combinations, including

while on vacation with his family into one of the most success-

traditional favorites such as chocolate icing with sprinkles and

ful donut franchises in the country.

more adventurous creations such as maple icing with bacon.
The family-friendly stores offer a viewing area where children

Everything is made to order, and customers get to choose their

and adults alike can watch their donuts being made.

favorite icing, topping and drizzle.

Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 by Russ DiGilio in Duck, North

"Customers like having the opportunity to customize, and Duck

Carolina. His intention? To solve a family vacation problem: "Our

Donuts is able to provide customers with a product that exactly

family wanted a place to buy warm, delicious, made-to-order do-

meets their sweet desires," DiGilio says.

nuts, and when we couldn't ﬁnd one, we decided to start our own."
no time-consuming process involved in letting the dough rise -

tions and the donut business was so successful that DiGilio was

like with yeast-raised donuts.

continuously approached about franchise opportunities.
The proprietary donut mix comes ready to use at store level, and
Five years ago, Duck Donuts opened its ﬁrst franchise store in

batter is dropped one ring at a time into a Donut Robot Mark V

Williamsburg, Virginia. Since that time, Duck Donuts has grown

from Belshaw Adamatic. The all-electric donut machine has the

to more than 50 locations, with 130 under contract, in 22 states.

capacity to make 56 dozen standard-size donuts per hour.

08 < MAR 2018 | bakemag.com

JOHN UNREIN

Further, because Duck Donuts makes only cake donuts, there's
By 2011, Duck Donuts had expanded to four Outer Banks loca-

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bake - March 2018

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