Crosstown doughnut in front of food truck

Source: Crosstown

Crosstown has secured its first supermarket listing with a five-strong range of exclusive doughnuts for Waitrose.

The sourdough doughnuts will be available at the retailer’s John Barnes store on London’s Finchley Road when it re-opens on 21 August following refurbishment. The new-look shop will include a branded Crosstown unit, where the doughnuts will be displayed as well as a display unit in the food to go area of the store. They’re expected to roll out to other Waitrose stores by the end of the year.

Crosstown doughnuts at Waitrose

Source: Crosstown

The five-strong range of doughnuts created exclusively for Waitrose

The five doughnuts, which will be available to purchase individually (rsp: £4) or in a mix & match three-pack box (£12), are:

  • Raspberry Jam (vegan) – filled with raspberry jam
  • Tongan Vanilla Bean – topped with Tongan vanilla bean glaze and filled with Tongan vanilla bean custard
  • Milk Chocolate Truffle – topped with dark chocolate ganache with a milk chocolate filling
  • Strawberry & Chocolate (vegan) – a strawberry glaze with dark chocolate ganache filling
  • Matcha & White Chocolate – matcha glaze with white chocolate ganache filling.

“We’ve been serving up fresh dough across London and other areas of the UK since 2014 through our retail network and delivery services, taken them to international festivals in the Middle East and now we’re launching them in our first supermarket partnership, at Waitrose John Barnes,” said Crosstown CEO Howard Ebison.

Crosstown unit at Waitrose

Source: Crosstown

Artist’s impression of the new Crosstown unit in Waitrose

Ebison added that Crosstown “thrives on the challenge of creating unique flavour combinations”, highlighting that the five available in Waitrose have been tailored to the retailer’s customers.

Crosstown was founded in 2014 by JP Then and Adam Wills. It started as a street food stall in London’s Leather Lane market, and specialises in sourdough doughnuts, small batch ice cream and speciality coffee, rolling its dough by hand and preparing all its jams, compotes, fillings, glazes and topping in-house, fresh each day.

The company has since grown into an omni-channel retailer with 25 sites across London, Cambridge, and Oxford, as well as online nationwide ordering, events, catering, and wholesale.

Its first supermarket listing comes shortly after the business was acquired by Karali Snacks. The deal saw 140 staff, including the Crosstown leadership team, transfer to the multi-national hospitality group with the aim of growing its retail estate in the future.

Supermarkets are an important market for many doughnut brands. Krispy Kreme, for example, has more than 1,400 cabinets in retailers and has recently entered the convenience market with smaller units tailored to suburban stores. Urban Legend, touted as a healthier doughnut brand, has also rolled out branded units in supermarket stores and has recently secured £3m in investments, led by Samworth Brothers, to help expand its distribution outside of London and the southeast.

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