Over the years, Ghent, Belgium-based Vandemoortele, whose US headquarters are in New York, has created a robust instore donut program for its American customers.

Most recently, in 2021, Vandemoortele brought its My Originals! line of donuts to the United States. My Originals! was launched in Europe in 1997 and has become well-established in the market, making Vandemoortele one of the European market leaders for donuts.

The My Originals! recipes are based on classic American yeast-raised donuts. Vandemoortele’s plain donuts are ideal for customers looking for a canvas on which to create their own designs, and the popular iced donuts are unique in the market, according to Vandemoortele, with a wide variety of decorations, fillings, coatings, and sizes.

Looking to the future, however, Vandemoortele is taking a different strategic position when it comes to donuts.

"Vandemoortele continues to be one of the top donut sellers in Europe, and we have used the US market as our inspiration and reference for our European offerings,” said Raoul Dexters, general manager of Vandemoortele USA. “As our donuts have received positive feedback in the US market and at trade shows, we have also affirmed that our main donut market will remain in Europe as additional opportunities in the US have presented themselves.”

The artisanal sweets market continues to grow, he added, and after using IDDBA 2022 to test its lines of cakes, desserts, and patisserie, Vandemoortele will switch its US focus to offering these items, which have also been successful in Europe.

“As market trends include a focus on health along with indulgence and celebration, we believe our lines of cakes position us better to meet the demand with offerings of desserts that provide vegan, authentic French patisserie and Belgian chocolate options,” Dexters said.