Jonathon York: Consumers’ preferences around doughnuts have evolved over the last few years, shaped by comfort-seeking behavior, ingredient awareness, and a growing appetite for premium experiences. While frequency of purchase has normalized post-pandemic, consumers are far more intentional about the doughnuts they choose.

Classics remain the foundation of the category—chocolate dip, glazed yeast raised, maple dip, vanilla sprinkle, old-fashioned, and apple fritters. These nostalgic favorites still anchor volume.

We’re also seeing a real resurgence in cake doughnuts. Their versatility, structure, and ability to carry spices, glazes, inclusions, and flavored sugars make them an ideal platform for both traditional profiles and seasonal innovation. Many of our partners are leaning back into cake mixes for their consistency, shelf life, and ability to support new flavor concepts.

Another notable trend is the increase in flavored sugars and dustings—cinnamon-maple, cocoa blends, chai-inspired notes, and citrus sugars. These offer a simple but impactful way to elevate classics and create seasonal or signature varieties without overhauling the base dough. We’ve been helping customers build custom sugar systems that maintain flowability, color stability, and flavor impact.

At the same time, there is continued consumer interest in premium and flavor-forward options. People are more willing to trade up for richer chocolate profiles, real-vanilla notes, fruit-forward flavors, and globally inspired ingredients. This has driven demand for natural cocoa replacers and more customized flavor solutions—areas where Embassy partners closely with customers.

Across all channels, ingredient expectations continue to shift. Consumers are gravitating toward cleaner labels, natural flavors and colors, and dairy-alternative systems, while moving away from overly artificial cues. The challenge—and opportunity—is delivering these BFY signals without compromising the traditional doughnut eating experience, something we help manufacturers achieve through smarter formulation and flavor design.

Overall, today’s doughnut consumer is looking for comfort, quality, and discovery. Brands that pair timeless favorites with thoughtful innovation, seasonal excitement, flavored sugar applications, and natural ingredient choices are the ones gaining momentum.

JS: Specifically, generally consumers across food categories (snack, bakery, and everywhere) seem to be increasingly interested in more healthful options (as long as they taste good), while still reaching for more traditional products. Can you discuss how that balance of BFY and conventional is playing out in doughnuts?

JY: BFY and indulgence aren’t mutually exclusive anymore. Consumers want permission to enjoy, which is pushing doughnut makers toward options that “feel better” without compromising taste.

We’re seeing more interest in natural colors, natural flavors, real fruit compounds, and dairy-alternative systems to deliver BFY cues without changing the traditional eating experience. A lot of our work at Embassy is helping customers achieve this balance—using cleaner flavor systems, optimized chocolate and vanilla profiles, and mix tweaks that maintain the familiar texture and indulgence consumers expect while quietly improving the ingredient list.

JS: Now, let’s focus on flavors. Could you please talk about trends in doughnut flavors—are consumers reaching mostly for new and trendy flavors, traditional varieties, or a bit of both?

JY: Consumers are reaching for a mix of both timeless classics and new, trend-driven flavors, and this balance is shaping most of the innovation we see in the market today.

Traditional flavors still anchor the category—glazed, chocolate, maple dip, vanilla sprinkle, and apple fritter. These familiar profiles continue to drive volume and serve as the base of most doughnut programs.

At the same time, consumers are increasingly open to flavor exploration, and that’s where we’re seeing meaningful growth:

• Nostalgic flavors like birthday cake, s’mores, cereal milk, and red velvet.
• Global inspirations such as ube, sticky toffee, Mexican hot chocolate, yuzu, and pistachio.
• Seasonal and limited-time offerings, where maple pecan, pumpkin spice, peppermint brownie, lemon-berry, and brown butter profiles continue to perform strongly.
• Flavored sugars and coatings, which are having a moment—cinnamon-maple, cocoa sugars, citrus dusts, and chai sugar blends.

We’re also seeing the rise of elevated classics, where the flavor stays familiar but the ingredients are more premium—richer chocolate using flavor systems, warmer real-vanilla flavor profiles, and caramelized sugars.

A major trend on the development side is customization. Retailers and foodservice operators want flavors that feel unique to their brand—signature maple blends, proprietary chocolate profiles and customized sugar systems. This is one of Embassy’s biggest areas of focus: helping customers create flavor systems that differentiate them in an increasingly crowded space.

Because we develop both mix functionality and flavor in-house, we can move quickly, bringing seasonal ideas, global flavors, or elevated classics from concept to commercial reality. That speed to market is becoming a real competitive advantage for customers looking to refresh menus more often or deliver retailer-exclusive offerings.

Overall, flavor trends in doughnuts are being driven by a desire for comfort with a twist—consumers want the classics they love, but with moments of discovery woven in through premium ingredients, global influences, seasonal limited-time offerings, and flavor systems tailored to specific brands.

Courtesy of Embassy Ingredients

JS: Embassy works closely with customers and potential clients—lately, when those folks come to you with questions or concerns regarding their doughnut offerings, what kinds of things are coming up?

JY: One of the biggest themes is customization. Retailers and foodservice operators want flavors that feel unique to their brand—something no one else has on shelf or in-store. This is an area where Embassy spends a lot of time with partners, developing custom flavors, tweaking classics, and customizing dough types.

We’re also seeing growing demand for faster development cycles, especially for seasonal rotations and retailer exclusives. Because we manage both flavor creation and doughnut mix development, we’re able to turn flavor ideas into commercial-ready solutions quickly, which is becoming a major differentiator in the market.

Overall, consumers want a mix of comfort and discovery—something familiar, but with a twist—and the manufacturers winning today are the ones pairing strong foundational flavors with custom innovations.

Faster development cycles as customers push for seasonal rotations and retailer differentiation.

With cocoa at historic highs, customers are actively looking for ways to maintain flavor, color, and authenticity without taking a hit on margins. Embassy has seen a sharp increase in requests for natural cocoa replacers that allow for 20%–50% cocoa reduction, depending on the application.

We’re also seeing strong demand for flavor innovation sessions, where customers want help brainstorming the next big doughnut idea.

JS: Please share some insights about the solutions that Embassy Ingredients offers doughnut producers—you can talk about products geared specifically for the doughnut-makers, expert advice specifically geared toward them and their sweet goods, whatever you like.

JY: Embassy Ingredients supports doughnut producers by combining innovation, customization, speed to market, and deep technical expertise—four capabilities that have become essential in today’s doughnut landscape.

• Innovation: We continually develop new doughnut mixes and flavor systems aligned with what consumers want—elevated classics, global-inspired notes, nostalgic flavors, and seasonal excitement. Our ability to build both mix functionality and flavor under one roof helps customers stay ahead of trends, not chase them.
• Customization: No two doughnut programs are the same, so we build tailored solutions. Whether a customer needs a specific texture, a signature flavor, a cost-engineered chocolate profile, or a natural cocoa replacer for cocoa reduction, we design products around their exact process, equipment, and market goals.
• Speed to market: Because R&D, flavor creation, and mix development operate together, we can move from idea → prototype → commercialization quickly. This is especially valuable for customers building seasonal programs, retailer exclusives, or rapid innovation pipelines.
• Technical expertise: Our technical team works closely with partners on fry performance, crumb structure, color consistency, shelf life, and flavor stability. Many clients come to us not just for ingredients but for problem-solving—matching existing products, troubleshooting texture, or improving quality while managing costs.

JS: Do you have any words of advice for doughnut makers looking for opportunities to improve their products and their appeal to consumers down the road?

JY: For doughnut makers looking to stay competitive in the years ahead, a few priorities consistently rise to the top:

• Use innovation strategically—the brands winning today balance a core lineup of classics with a curated pipeline of trend-forward concepts. Seasonal rotations, global flavors, nostalgic riffs, and elevated twists on traditional profiles bring traffic and excitement.
• Working with partners who can develop both mix functionality and flavor systems helps turn these ideas into scalable products quickly.
• Lean into customization: More retailers and foodservice operators are looking for signature flavors and unique doughnut experiences. Tailoring flavors or dough performance to a specific brand can differentiate a program in ways that generic SKUs can’t.
• Select supply partners who strengthen your resilience. Choosing a Canadian partner like Embassy provides meaningful advantages:
  1. Pricing stability through sourcing and reduced tariff exposure
  2. Faster speed to market thanks to domestic R&D, manufacturing, and short supply routes
• Greater agility in customization, allowing for brand-specific flavor and mix solutions
• Innovation and technical depth under one roof, which shortens development cycles and improves execution

JS: Finally, what’s your favorite kind of doughnut?

JY: My favorite doughnut is a maple dip—it’s simple, and nostalgic, with that warm maple sweetness Canadians love and our American friends never seem to get enough of.

Related: Consumers reach for doughnuts that offer fun flavors, indulgence