How profitable is the gourmet doughnut? A new food-maker retailer will soon know.
PVDonuts, launched two months ago, in late May opened its first retail outlet at 200 Allens Ave. in Providence, sharing the space with Sin Desserts, a specialty baker.
Owner Lori Kettelle said the business outgrew its original space at Hope & Main in Warren within just a few weeks.
The doughnuts Kettelle creates and sells with the help of two full-time employees are hefty specimens, about the size of a woman’s palm. Each sells for $3 to $3.50, with a discounted rate for a dozen.
A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Kettelle launched the business after sensing a gap in the Providence food scene for gourmet doughnuts.
The dough is a brioche, made with high-quality bread flour, eggs and butter, but little sugar. Toppings are creative. Among her 10 creations: vanilla bean; peanut butter and jelly; chocolate glazed with shaved white chocolate and honey sea salt.
“We definitely strive for getting the flavor that it is, rather than just sugar,” she said. •