I went behind the scenes at a world-famous doughnut shop. Take a look inside.
September 19, 20240
The Holy Donut has five locations across Maine.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
Despite it being a dreary day, customers were already lined up inside to grab their breakfast.
The Holy Donut was dreamed up by single mother Leigh Kellis in her apartment kitchen. After trying multiple different recipes, including one from the iconic cookbook “Joy of Cooking,” Kellis came up with her own recipe for a doughnut using riced Maine potatoes.
The result was a doughnut that was heartier and heavier and didn’t dry out as fast as a typical doughnut.
The business has since grown into a local institution with five locations and now has even bigger dreams, largely thanks to Buckwalter.
“I think a big part of our story is it’s a wonderful American dream story. The family coming together and just figuring it out,” he said. “Also, within a community that has — I don’t know that it doesn’t exist outside Portland — but has a rising tides mentality. Everybody is willing to help everybody.”
I visited the oldest location on Park Avenue, but the doughnut shop on Commercial Street is its busiest.
A sign advertised the doughnut shop’s new blueberry flavors.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
Blueberry season in Maine typically lasts from late July until early September, and blueberry festivals are held across the state in the late summer.
Buckwalter said The Holy Donut leans into seasonal, limited-time-only flavors, from its summertime blueberry flavors to apple cinnamon sugar doughnuts in the fall. It’s an exciting time for customers to embrace the season and get their favorite flavors that they wait all year for.
During a tour of The Holy Donut’s facility, I saw how the company is leaning into local.
Employees at The Holy Donut cut and shaped all the doughnuts by hand.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
Buckwalter said that while the company has made steps to automate some processes over the years, the doughnuts are still cut and shaped by hand — something he believes is integral, though not the most important aspect, to the company’s brand.
The Holy Donut cuts and shapes all of its doughnuts by hand.
Jeff Buckwalter said the company sells millions of doughnuts each year.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
Buckwalter said that across its locations, they probably make around 6 or 7 million doughnuts each year. Demand is particularly high during the summer when tourism in Maine is at its peak. The stores each sell different quantities depending on their location.
“Our Arundel one is a very small, tiny retail,” he said, adding, “Purchasing that was all about the commissary and its proximity to the interstate.”
The hearty doughnuts vary in price.
Jeff Buckwalter said he hopes to expand the company’s shipping and retail ventures.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
“We are going to own the doughnut shipping space nationwide and we are going to be known as a very well-managed and scaled family company that now has a nationwide brand,” Buckwalter said of his goals for The Holy Donut in the next five years.
He said that while the company has been in talks with massive distribution giants like Goldbelly, his team is starting off on a smaller scale by creating an online ordering system and shipping its own products across the country — an option that will be rolling out soon.
“We’ve perfected freezing our product, so that’s been a complete game changer for us,” Buckwalter said. “Now, these stores can really best be served as profitable marketing arms that drive traffic to our shipping, and drive traffic to our soon-to-be nationwide retail. We have a lot of work to do, but within a couple of years, that’s a very real opportunity for us.”
