Baking & Snack - June 2019 - 31

OPERATIONS
Doughnut Peddler

Arizona-based Doughnut Peddler expands eastward with its fresh
donut business, building four new bakeries in less than two years.
by Charlotte Atchley

When a family-owned business partners
with a private equity firm, the impossible suddenly becomes plausible. For
Doughnut Peddler, Phoenix, the possibility to turn dreams into reality came
true when the company expanded from
one bakery serving Arizona to five bakeries serving multiple states, all within
two years. This rapid national initiative
came to fruition when current Doughnut
Peddler CEO Jason Duffy and his private
equity partners merged with the familyowned donut bakery and invested heavily in the expansion plans.
"We were growing in Arizona but
staying there, just strengthening our
foothold on the Arizona market," said
Jon Dairman, senior operations manager, procurement. "And the whole time
we talked about expanding and going all
over the country, but we never really did
it until Jason and his partners gave us the
opportunity. And we said, 'If we're going
to do it, we need to do it,' so we built all
four within two years."
A perfectly timed channel shake-up
gave Doughnut Peddler an opportunity
to flex its new-found capital and see what
it could really accomplish with its quality
sweet goods and strong work ethic. "The
secret to our fresh, delicious products is
not sugar or oil but elbow grease - the
desire to roll up our sleeves and produce
the best product on the market - and
then deliver it safely, promptly and daily,"
Mr. Duffy explained.
That commitment comes from the
Smith family that established Doughnut
Peddler in the first place, cultivating a
company culture and a team committed to not only seeing the business succeed but also to one another. "Once we

decided to do this, we just put pedal to
the metal," Mr. Dairman said. "Everyone
put in long days, and we just worked
hard. It's a family atmosphere. We're all
friends. We joke together; we love each
other and would die for each other. So
when it came time to expand, we all did
everything we could to help one another
and did what needed to be done."

Logistics expertise and
quality products have
enabled Doughnut
Peddler to fill a fresh
foods gap in the convenience store channel
and grow its business.
Photography by Diana Simonetta

Family history
Doughnut Peddler has been a family company since its founding in 1983, and the
original owners remain an essential part
of the business today. In its first iteration,
the Smiths opened a sandwich shop in
Mesa, AZ, and as the community grew, the
shop blossomed to accommodate the need
for other quality fresh baked goods. This
growing demand led the family to supply
fresh donuts daily to retailers in the area.
The company's commitment to freshness, quality and safety enabled it to
move into new, larger bakeries about
every seven years, according to Mr.
Dairman. Over the years, Doughnut
Peddler perfected its distribution strategy. Its long-standing relationships with
customers also helped the company develop a forecasting system that allows the
business to accurately predict its clients'
needs and consumer consumption based
on the time of the year, weather and holidays. "With this innovative forecasting
technology, the company began to comfortably expand its service in Arizona
from 100 stores to more than 900 stores
by 2012," Mr. Duffy said.
That was when Mr. Duffy and his partners took notice. The company had built
a state-of-the-art bakery in Phoenix and
saw it as an opportunity to expand oper-

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