Cardiff Dough and Co, the city’s first doughnut-only shop, will open in the coming week following large demand from locals
A new independent shop which offers fresh, enormous doughnuts is set to open near Roath Park in the coming week following increased demand.
Cardiff Dough and Co is a business venture from married couple Ashley and Rachael Parfitt that started in the summer during lockdown. But the origins of their passion for doughnuts dates back to their honeymoon.
“Over in Australia we came across a food van,” explains Ashley. “The queue was humongous so we thought [the doughnuts] must be incredible and they were!”
Ashley went back to normal life as a welder once home, but an unexpected break brought about by the national lockdown gave him the chance to experiment with recipes. Eventually, he got it right and started offering delivery and collection services online.
Sales of their new products started to peak at around 100 doughnuts a day, which was the maximum their home kitchen could manage. Before long, they even attracted interest from the Cardiff City football team captain.
“Sean Morrison sent me a message saying they were the best doughnuts he’s ever eaten,” remembers Ashley. “He put in a big order and [the team] had them on the way down to their away game.”
Cardiff won the match, which Ashley cheekily states was “purely down to the doughnuts.”
Bun fight
With two Krispy Kreme stores already serving doughnut-lovers in Cardiff, Ashley faces stiff competition. However, he believes his new businesses offers superior quality.
Ashley explains, “I think freshness is the whole point of a doughnut. If you’re mass producing them they’ve got to be more bready so they’re not as fresh.”
I think freshness is the whole point of a doughnut
Despite nerves, Ashley and Rachael are eager to open Cardiff Dough and Co next Saturday and unleash their giant doughnuts en masse at Clearwater Parade. They already have plans to start selling freakshakes, which Ashley promises will be “super indulgent”.
You can keep up to date with Cardiff Dough and Co on Instagram and Facebook