Trader Spotlight: Golden Glaze Doughnuts
In this spotlight we’d like to introduce you to Golden Glaze Doughnuts. A Worcestershire based, fully vegan doughnut company who are on a mission to show the UK just how good vegan food can be through the power of… doughnuts! Although they are based in Worcester City Centre they travel to all corners of the country attending markets, food festivals, and other events with their yummy D’s! Alongside their doughies, they also have a wicked coffee menu serving everything from a typical oat milk latte to fruity sparklers.
So let’s delve in and find out more…
What came first? Veganism or your business?
Veganism! We spend January of 2022 buying vegan doughnuts from non-vegan companies and thought “Wouldn’t it be awesome to make vegan doughnuts from a vegan kitchen with a team of staff that all share the same values?!”
What inspired you to start your own business?
Since becoming vegan, I realised that one of the most impactful forms of activism is what we put in our mouth! No matter how powerful and convincing vegan activists are, if there isn’t any good vegan food, people will never take us seriously! From then, I knew that I wanted to contribute to the world of tasty vegan food.
What's your favourite thing about trading at vegan markets?
There’s two things that I just can’t pick between:
First is the amazing people we meet at markets. We’ve had many conversations about veganism with both long-term vegans and also people that are quite ignorant to the whole concept. We’ve served countless oat milk lattes to skeptics who tend to come back and tell us it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had; that feeling is unbeatable!
Second is the amazing vegan market trader community. I now spend most of my weekends alongside so many other vegan traders and they’ve genuinely become some of my best mates! The feeling of community you get from vegan markets is like no other. Lots of love to every vegan trader out there
What's your top selling product at markets?
It’s got to be our White Chocolate Biscoff doughnut! Although, it’s got some very strong competition. My favourite are the fruity flavours: Black Forest, lemon, and raspberry.
What advice would you give someone wanting to start trading at vegan markets?
Talk to the traders! Sometimes the best way to learn is to get stuck in and speak to the people who have already done it. If you’re running a vegan company, or thinking of starting one, there’s a load of us traders that’ll help you get involved and booked into some good events.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing as an independent business owner right now?
Wearing all of the different hats! Some days I wish I could just put on my apron and make a whole load of yummy doughnuts and, to be honest, quite often that’s what I do. But, as a small business owner, you also have to be a bit of an accountant, a social media manager, an event planner, the logistics team, the sales team, and a whole lot more.
If you have a rare weekend off, how are you spending it?
One great thing about this job is visiting different towns and cities across the UK. The problem is that when we’re doing a market, there’s never any time to visit the local vegan spots!
On the occasional weekend off, I love revisiting the towns and cities I’ve been to with Golden Glaze Doughnuts to explore and enjoy the wonderful vegan food on offer.
What's your favourite…
…Vegan restaurant/cafe
Another crazy difficult question! Living in Worcester, we have so many amazing vegan options. For the best vegan burgers, mac and cheese, and ‘chicken’-based goodies, it’s always got to be No Frickin Chicken. If you frequent vegan markets, that’s a name you probably already know!
For a little-bit-fancy sit down meal, Worcester’s Reishi Plant Kitchen is my go to.
And lastly, right next to our Worcester City Centre micro bakery is the wonderful Little Bento Box Sushi; a vegan sit-in restaurant serving amazing sushi rolls and the BEST Inari pockets.
No Frickin Chicken
…Go to meal?
Probably a homemade vegan spaghetti bolognaise! Bonus points if it’s sprinkled with GoodCarmaFoods hard cheese alternative.
…Vegan product you couldn't live without?
Oat milk. Whether it’s in a coffee, on cereal, or just by itself, I have a lot of nice things to say about the stuff!
What does the future hold for you and Golden Glaze?
We’ve got some really exciting things in the works. We’ve just moved into a new bakery spot right in the city centre of Worcester. At the minute, we’re still perfecting it as our new production space but once we’ve done that, we’d love to explore opening it as a hole-in-the-wall style doughnut takeaway joint where we can also offer nationwide delivery. If you’re not Worcester based though, don’t stress; we’re still planning on doing more and more markets than ever!
If you fancy trying out one of those White Chocolate Biscoff doughnuts for yourself, why not come along to our next vegan market?
You can view all our upcoming events here!