HOUSTON — Time. Space. Labor. The reasons to get a little help in the product case are plentiful, and they’re not going away anytime soon.
For creative product offerings that transcend season, location and daypart, there is, perhaps, no better canvas than the donut. In fact, Nielsen data indicates that donuts have had year-over-year growth for the past two years.
No matter the season, premiumization gets the price point, especially for donut offerings. The trick is making it happen while short on time, space and labor. To solve for that, Dawn has launched what it calls the “ABCs” of its frozen donut line — apple crisp, birthday cake and cherry frozen donuts— with product ideas on display during the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association’s IDDBA 2024 conference, held June 9-11.
“With this lineup, we can focus on helping our customers meet the seasonal profile in a way that’s easily executed,” said Sarah Hickey, VP of North America marketing for Dawn Foods.
With these new flavor profiles, bakers have the option to keep the non-sticky glaze for clamshell packaging or thaw the frozen donut to decorate and merchandise inside the case.
That need for versatility in the labor shortage era is not isolated to retail or in-store bakeries. Workforce is a challenge everywhere, whether it’s relating to artisanal bakeries looking for eye-catching line extensions or supermarket operators just needing to get a product on the shelf.
“We have definitely seen an influx in the supermarket channel because I think more people are buying donuts there,” Hickey said. “And on the foodservice and small artisanal bakery side, they also can’t fight off the labor challenge anymore, and as much as they’d love to make every donut from scratch, they just don’t have the staff to do it. That’s why we’re seeing growth in both of these areas, but they’re based on different needs.”
The ABC donut line comes frozen to the operator, who can then slack it out and bake it off quickly.
This line not only enables bakers to creatively and cost-effectively increase their seasonal offerings, but it also provides an opportunity to upgrade donuts in any season.
