With the rising trend of veganism and all its benefits on your health and the environment, many people have been actively seeking plant-based alternatives to their favorite treats. Finding vegan sweets can be a hit or miss for sweet tooths who have recently converted to a sustainable diet. The Happy Donut bakery is on a mission to become a full-fledged bakery for vegan goods that’s accessible to all!

Owners Nat Morris and Meg Smith started making small-batch vegan goods and specializing in donuts from their home in Bath, England when the pandemic hit. Happy Donut was a result of lockdown boredom when Nat was put on furlough last April. Originally a Saturday stall at their local market, Happy Donut quickly grew to become Nat and Meg’s full-time job thanks to social media!

The pair does everything, from developing recipes and shooting product imagery to delivering to their customer’s doorsteps. They dream of Happy Donut becoming not only a great place to get vegan goodies, but also a hub for the LGBTQ+ community in Bath. They want their shop to become a place where you can meet like-minded people, normalize veganism, and destroy negative connotations surrounding plant-based food. Vegan food can be just as delicious and flavorful as its non-vegan counterparts!

Nat and Meg envision Happy Donut to grow as a fun brand that’s all about happiness so it attracts the right people. As for their branding and aesthetic, they gravitate to a strong 60s or 70s aesthetic with their brand colors and some disco balls. Donuts are very on-trend right now, and the two brand owners used them to make them stand out from their competitors in the baking industry. To reflect their bright and upbeat branding, they partnered with noissue to create a colorful packaging that radiated happiness!

They previously had a basic black and white logo and packaging which didn’t portray the message that they wanted to convey, and thanks to noissue’s custom FoodSafe Paper, they get to showcase their mission with each batch of donuts they send out. Their FoodSafe Paper is decked out in retro 70s sunglasses and their flower-shaped logo, as also seen on their boxes.

“Our brand image was influenced by 70’s flower power, hence the floral shapes, sunglasses, and the burnt orange color. We chose noissue because of the quality and the ordering process (which was super user friendly for us who are no tech experts).”

While it looks like their business is all set, it hasn’t been a smooth ride all the way. Nat and Meg realized the famous quote among entrepreneurs, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” is far from the truth. What they think it should actually say is, “Do what you love and you’ll work the hardest that you’ve ever worked in your life.” And they mean this in the best way possible! Running a business is no joke and simply straight-up hard work. There are no shortcuts and you have to be determined, disciplined, and ready to graft. As 23-year-olds, it was difficult for them to raise the funds to open their first shop so they had to (and currently are) crowdfunding.

Their advice to food enthusiasts who want to set up their own businesses is to specialize. Focusing on a niche will help you attract the right target market and challenge your creative skills to focus on a specific path. With Happy Donut’s target to reach vegan sweet tooths and becoming a safe space for queer people, the baking industry has never looked this good!

Find more of The Happy Donut Bakery here:‌‌‌‌‌
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Website: thehappydonut.co.uk
‌Instagram: @thehappydonutco

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