THE HOLE TRUTH … And Nothing But The Truth ! - Donut Hole Marketing (2024)

THE HOLE TRUTH … And Nothing But The Truth ! - Donut Hole Marketing (1)

How did the donut get its hole? The actual history isn’t definitively clear, but there are a couple of realistic possibilities.

DONUT HOLE HISTORY

The earliest “doughnuts” actually didn’t have holes. Many believe Dutch settlers brought the first olykoek(“oil-ly cake”)to America when they landed in New Amsterdam (New York). These doughnuts were the same shape and size as our modern donuts, but they weren’t shaped like a ring.

The honor of “hole inventor” seems to land with Hanson Gregory, an American sailor. Gregory, who went to sea eating “whole doughnuts”, and returned with “holed donuts.”

THE HOLE TRUTH … And Nothing But The Truth ! - Donut Hole Marketing (2)
  • One legend says that he simply didn’t have a place to put his doughnut while steering the ship in the middle of a storm, so he stuck it on the spoke of the ship’s helm. When he pulled it off – a hole!
  • A more realistic legend claims that Captain Gregory didn’t like the uncooked center of the primitive, unevenly fried doughnut, so he cut it out with a sailor’s blade. When his ship landed, he showed the solution to his mother who adopted the ring-shape and decorated the newly-shaped donut with sugar and spices.

Of course, today’s modern donut has been modified, decorated, and improved from those primitive beginnings. But the resulting “ring-shaped” donut is iconic, versatile, and delicious – with a hole on the side!

DONUT HOLE MARKETING

Do you have a mountain of donut holes on the bottom shelf of your display case? Many donut shops do, and there always seems to be extras at days end. Why not put them to work? Try this: in every bag or box of a regular donut purchase, “sneak” a small token of your appreciation by adding one glazed donut hole – free of charge! When your customer discovers this hidden gem, he or she will remember this extra bonus and make a mental note that your shop is special.

THE HOLE TRUTH … And Nothing But The Truth ! - Donut Hole Marketing (3)

THE HOLE TRUTH

It’s a proud time to be in the baking industry and support the health and well-being of our customers during the current Covid-19 crisis. Talk to your BakeMark Representative about point-of-sale materials that convey your store’s ability to safely deliver fresh product throughout the day. Always remember: BakeMark is here to help!

About BakeMark

Based in Pico Rivera, CA, BakeMark is the recognized market leader in the baking industry, as a manufacturer and distributor of bakery ingredients, products and supplies. BakeMark serves North America and customers internationally across all industry channels with its comprehensive product portfolio, including bakery mixes, fillings, icings, glazes, commodities, frozen products and bakery supplies. BakeMark is the exclusive distributor of some of the industry’s top brands, including Westco, BakeSense, Best Brands, Multifoods, BakeQwik, Trigal Dorado, C’est Vivant and Sprinkelina, operating through 6 manufacturing plants and over 33 distribution centers located across North America. Please visit www.bakemark.com for more information.

Media Contact

Carol Villegas
BakeMark
Sr. Director of Marketing
(562) 222-6380
carolyn.villegas@bakemark.com

THE HOLE TRUTH … And Nothing But The Truth ! - Donut Hole Marketing (2024)

FAQs

What is the hole in the donut problem a description of? ›

I'll look like the hole in the doughnut.” Hence, the fear of being the hole in the doughnut is the fear of giving over control to our higher power — and the underlying fear that we will disappear, losing our identity and our sense of self.

What is the hole in the donut analogy? ›

You all have probably heard at work the expression, “you need to focus on the hole not the doughnut”; referring to focusing on what is missing and where we still need to improve instead of focusing on what was achieved.

What is the donut hole theory? ›

The Doughnut, or Doughnut economics, is a visual framework for sustainable development – shaped like a doughnut or lifebelt – combining the concept of planetary boundaries with the complementary concept of social boundaries. The name derives from the shape of the diagram, i.e. a disc with a hole in the middle.

How did the donut get its hole according to the inventor? ›

Although the outsides and the edges were crisp, the centers of the donuts were always greasy and doughy. Gregory suggested punching a hole in the middle of the fried cakes, so that the insides of the cakes would cook as evenly as the outsides.

Why is it called a donut hole? ›

Many early recipes called for the donut to be formed in the shape of a jumble, a circular cookie with a hole in the center. It has also been suggested that this was invented because donuts cook more quickly when they have a hole in the center.

When did donut holes become popular? ›

It was the 1940s, however, that saw a real doughnut hole frenzy, says Ellen Dyer, archivist at Camden's public library. "The whole doughnut thing went crazy," she says. The 1940 World's Fair had a doughnut exhibit with a portrait of Gregory and in 1941 the American Donut Corp.

What does "keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole" mean? ›

We don't want to focus on what's not there and what's wrong. We want to focus on what is and what's good. So traditional parenting literature gets it wrong and the “Focus on the donut, not the hole” is a really helpful reminder to keep the focus and the attention on what is there.

What is the donut time theory? ›

He says that according to Einstein's theories, space can be twisted enough to create a local gravity field that looks like a doughnut of some arbitrary size. The gravitational field lines circle around this doughnut, so that space and time are both tightly curved back on themselves.

What are donuts without holes called? ›

Jelly Doughnut

These classic doughnuts are typically round without a hole in the middle, and generally leavened with yeast.

How old is the donut hole? ›

History. The first Donut Hole opened in 1963, in La Puente, California. According to one source, the shop in La Puente was the second to open, in 1968, and was followed by three others. However, various sources disagree and date the building's original construction from 1947 to 1958 to 1962.

Who ate the first donut? ›

While food resembling doughnuts has been found at many ancient sites, the earliest origins to the modern doughnuts are generally traced back to the olykoek (“oil(y) cake”) Dutch settlers brought with them to early New York (or New Amsterdam).

What is the name of the donut hole shape? ›

A torus (plural: tori or toruses) is a tube shape that looks like a doughnut or an inner tube. In geometry, a torus is made by rotating a circle in three dimensional space.

Is the hole part of the donut? ›

Yes it is part of the donut because even though the hole is empty space it is surrounded by donut. Without the hole it wouldn't be a donut, it would just be a piece of cake.

Why is the center of gravity of a donut in the hole? ›

Explanation: The center of gravity for a doughnut is at its geometric center, which is the point equidistant from all points on the object. In the case of a doughnut, this would be at the center of the hole. This is relevant because the center of gravity affects the stability and balance of an object.

What is a donut math term? ›

A ring torus is sometimes colloquially referred to as a donut or doughnut. A ring torus with a selection of circles on its surface As the distance from the axis of revolution decreases, the ring torus becomes a horn torus, then a spindle torus, and finally degenerates into a double-covered sphere.

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