Doughnut delight as couple to open factory and shop
CARDIFF is set to get its very own doughnut factory as Cardiff Dough and Co is opening a “doughnut hub” in Rumney, hopefully in time for trick or treaters at Halloween.
The Cardiff business has a lot of irons in the fire as it also plans to open a Cardiff city centre doughnut shop in the next few weeks and is in the process of converting a street food van which will be taken to events around the county.
Owned by Ash and Rachael Parfitt, Cardiff Dough and Co makes handmade 24-hour proved doughnuts in a creative range of weekly-changing flavours such as pina colada, coffee walnut, Eton mess and banoffee pie.
The business has come a long way from the married couple’s initial experiments making doughnuts at home.
“On the first day we took about 24 hours to make eight doughnuts whilst screaming at each other! Now we create a thousand a day and it’s a smooth happy process.”
Ash, a former welder, set up the company whilst on furlough in 2020. Starting with a stall at Corporation Yard Market in Canton, they then opened a pop-up shop in Lakeside’s Clearwater Parade in December 2020.
When the row of shops closed for redevelopment this summer, Cardiff Dough and Co were forced to look for new premises. But, Ash sees the enforced move in a positive light.
“We went in there with a sixmonth lease for a pop-up shop so we knew the redevelopment work was going to happen,” said Ash. “It was incredible for us, it couldn’t have gone any better really. Whilst our hand was forced to find a new property, it’s helped us take the next step to become a bit bigger.”
Cardiff Dough and Co’s new doughnut factory will be based on Wentloog Road in Rumney and there’s plenty of work to be done if it’s going to be open in time for Halloween.
Ash explained: “We’re super stoked for it. We’ve just moved in and we’re getting the fryers in and the floor done.
“There’s so much work to go. It’s a pretty big job because it’s a blank canvas and it’s a massive 2,000 sq ft unit.”
Primarily a production unit, customers will also be able to buy doughnuts to take away from a retail counter.
Click and collect will be available as well to ensure that people aren’t left disappointed when their favourite flavour is out of stock.
Speaking about their ambitions for the unit, Ash said: “We want to be the doughnut hub of South Wales.
“This will be our mother site so it’s where all the magic will happen and we’ll produce all of our stock.
“Then every morning we’ll ship our fresh produce over to our shop, markets and events.”
Alongside its doughnut factory, Cardiff Dough and Co plans to open a city centre doughnut shop in the next few weeks.
Whilst Ash wouldn’t reveal its exact location, he’s excited about the move.
“It’s very exciting but I can’t say too much. We’ll be able to attract visitors to Cardiff that we weren’t able to in our previous location.
“If we can reach tourists to the castle and the city centre then we’ll be able to grow a little quicker.”
The company also has big plans for next year, as it’s currently doing up a street food van with plans to take it on the road.
“We plan to convert the van over the winter so that it’s ready for summer 2022.
“We’re going to put fryers in it so we can make hot fresh doughnuts on site as well as sell our fresh produce.
“We’ve got events lined up and we’re also looking for festivals.”
Despite the company’s growth ambitions, Ash insists there’ll still be just as much love going into the preparation of each doughnut.
“We’re looking to invest in some serious doughnut machinery,” said Ash.
“Our plan is to incorporate wholesale as well so I’d love to be doing about 5,000 doughnuts a day.”
“However, we want to keep our doughnuts handmade and we don’t want to grow too big too quickly.
“We love our handmade doughnuts and all the love which goes into each one of them.
“So we’re going to have a big doughnut fryer and then a production line of people hand finishing the doughnuts.
“We’ll be creating jobs in the coming months as we grow. We’re going to look to employ between 20 and 40 people within the first year. Fingers crossed it all works out.”