Oh Doughnuts: A Story Full of Holes
Bake a million doughnuts and bake a million more
Amanda Kinden continues the rise of Oh Doughnuts. Learn what it’s like to create a business with lots of dough, the kind that has been transformed into more than a million of her gourmet take on the centreless sweet—and savoury—treats.
Q: Where did you learn to bake?
A: I just baked and learned on my own. I am not formally trained. I spent all my time on the weekends trying new things. I used to bake Christmas dainties with my mom when I was younger, but I was mostly interested in spoon-licking opportunities.
Q: What did you do before Oh Doughnuts?
A: I have an environmental studies/geography degree from University of Winnipeg and was working at Green Action Centre as the Living Green Living Well/Commuter Challenge Coordinator when I started making doughnuts. I wanted to start a casual dessert catering company, but I had made doughnuts for a Manitoba Eco-Network event in Feb 2014 and folks asked where they could get more and an order, so I decided to focus on doughnuts. In the summer of 2014, I approached Nils Vik from Parlour Coffee. He’d been looking for local gourmet doughnuts and agreed to start selling them in September 2014.
Q: Why doughnuts vs. donuts? Was this a spelling choice that kept you up at night?
A: Doughnuts are the proper spelling, and I can’t ever bring myself to write donuts, even if I’m in a hurry. It does seem to cause a bit of internal conflict. Donuts are actually the Americanized (and lazy way, in my opinion) version. Donuts is just Do-nuts.
Q: How do you arrive at your menu, especially the more creative options, like taco dip and savoury flavours?
A: The everything bagel doughnut actually took a few months to take off. Lots of folks could not wrap their brains around a savoury doughnut. But word of mouth spread, and while we still see folks express shock at the thought of a savoury doughnut, there are always a few to chime in and share how the doughnut changed their lives. Also, different people like all kinds of different things, so a super elaborate peanut butter marshmallow square cheesecake doughnut to one person is a dream, and to others is too much. And we get that, so we offer classic flavours like Boston cream and vanilla sprinkles on a regular basis. The taco dip doughnut was a staff idea, and there is usually a couple testing sessions when all the staff try the doughnut and weigh in on what it needs more or less of. The birthday cake cheesecake doughnut took a few tries, and the first iteration looked like a two-year-old designed it, so we also have to work in a visually appealing doughnut when considering the flavour as well.
Q: What’s been your most successful doughnut variety? What bombed?
A: I think, either our peanut butter marshmallow square cheesecake or the everything bagel doughnut have been our most popular. Bombed? Maybe the matcha cream with chocolate glaze doughnut we did a couple times? I don’t really think we gave it enough of a chance though.
Q: What made you choose your first location? What has drawn you to open the second? What was it like to go from one location to two?
A: I knew I wanted Oh Doughnuts to be downtown. I was on my honeymoon in Italy when I was sent the Broadway space listing. It was definitely too small, but considering how many doughnuts make it to offices and how little vacant restaurant space there was downtown, it seemed like a great fit. I also really love Broadway’s tree lined median, and that there are no underground or above ground walkways, so people walk right past us on the street. The food trucks on Broadway in the summer are also a bonus.
The Broadway space is very small, so we could never make more than we were currently. We also know that there are a ton of people in Winnipeg who don’t like to go downtown (unfortunately!), and the second location will allow us to take on larger orders. For instance, we have an order for 1400 doughnuts next week!
I have some great staff and a great manager at Broadway which allows me to focus on the new shop on Taylor. Staffing has been the biggest issue, but I know that’s a very common issue. The biggest challenge are the hours. Our bakers start at 9 p.m., so there is only a very short window when someone is not at the shop working, and so my brain never really shuts off. I just wanted to make mouths happy, and a delightful side effect of that is that I’ve created employment for about 35 individuals now. For me, that was the most surprising part of starting a business, the thought that I’ve invited all these different personalities and characters into my life, and they’ve made friends at work and working at Oh Doughnuts has become part of their story.
Q: Tell us a little something about your commitment to local.
A: Well, I just think it’s simple, have integrity and it will come through in your product. I’m not interested in getting rich at the expense of anything or anyone. The local and organic eggs from Nature’s Farm, the local butter from Notre Dame Creamery, and the local and organic flour from Prairie Flour Mills come together to make our doughnuts great, while supporting the families behind those ingredients. Having a small business in the city I grew up in is great, I can support the causes that are important to me just by selling doughnuts. I always say diversity is the spice of life, and being an inclusive employer makes things really spicy! I used to work as a support worker at St. Amant, and as a lesbian I know how important it is to feel welcome and accepted at work.
Q: How many doughnuts do you think you’ve made? Do you ever worry that doughnuts will go out of style? Do you have an eye to the next dessert craze?
A: We’ve probably made almost a million doughnuts? Maybe just over a million? Holy smokes that’s a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever done the math like that before. I don’t think doughnuts will go out of style. Unlike cupcakes which anyone can make, most folks aren’t interested in frying in their homes. Also, most people don’t know how long it takes to make yeast raised doughnuts. From start to finish it can take about four hours. I think a lot of Canadians have an emotional attachment to doughnuts. Most cultures have a version. There are churros in Mexico, lokma in Greece, Jalebi in India, Berliner in Germany and so on. I also think doughnuts feature so prominently in popular culture, there is just no escaping them. Start to pay attention to TV shows and movies, you’ll see so many mentions of doughnuts. I’m so doughnut-focused unless I can make it a doughnut I have no idea what’s going on in the world.
Q: What’s on the horizon for Oh Doughnuts? Where would you like to take your business next?
A: We’re talking about possible expanding the downtown location. We have a lot of ideas but the way the shop is structured right now it wouldn’t allow for it. Beyond expanding the Broadway location, I’m not sure what else is possible. I’m pretty sure two locations is enough in one city, so I doubt we’ll open another location in Winnipeg, but who knows about other cities!
Q: What’s your best doughnut joke?
A: Ha ha, well unfortunately I don’t have any original doughnut jokes, but this one is my favourite: What do you see when the Pillsbury Dough Boy bends over? Doughnuts!
All photos by Kristhine Guerrero
