BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A donut and coffee shop that originated in a Volkswagen bus on the streets of Chile soon will open a brick-and-mortar store in the South Side Historic District in Bethlehem.
The new location at West 4th and South New Streets (next to Subway) will be the first for Donerds Donuts in the Lehigh Valley, said co-owner Annabel Figueroa.
It's currently slated for a spring opening next year.
"We were thinking of having a food truck in Bethlehem, but we made a [social media] post and so many people were sharing and commenting that we said, 'Maybe it would be a good idea to actually open a true location,'" Figueroa said in a phone call Wednesday.
- Donerds Donuts, a popular donut shop that started in Chile, soon will open in Bethlehem
- The opening is slated for spring 2023, with a goal of late March or early April
- Donerds currently operates a popular location in Jim Thorpe and two franchises remain in Chile
While the business originally started in the back of a 1981 Volkswagen bus on the streets of Santiago, Chile, Figueroa and her husband, Andrew, opened their first brick-and-mortar location there in October 2019. They later moved to Jim Thorpe, nestled in the southern Poconos in Carbon County, Pa., and started a donut and coffee shop at 76 Broadway.
"I’m from Chile and Andy is from New Jersey, so he was traveling to Chile and we met 10 years ago," Figueroa said. "I always wanted to have my own business and it was the best time, because at that time the only thing we had in Chile was Dunkin' Donuts.
"Andy’s grandfather was a pastry chef, so he knew how to make donuts and he shared those recipes with us. We started from nothing and started practicing and practicing and finally we got this amazing dough.
"We got pretty popular and we were actually on a TV show [in Chile]. We then had the opportunity to open a location in Jim Thorpe and we started looking for franchises in Chile so we could come here and franchise what we have there. We now have one location in Jim Thorpe and two in Chile."
She said branching out to Bethlehem turned out to be an easy decision.
"I love Bethlehem, and it was at the top of our list," she said. "I'm a city person and Jim Thorpe is a really small town. Every time I wanted to escape, I went to Bethlehem, because in my opinion it's the nicest small city around. There's so much to do and amazing businesses."
"I love Bethlehem, and it was at the top of our list"Donerds Donuts co-owner Annabel Figueroa
The Donerds Donuts in Jim Thorpe serves not only fresh craft donuts, it also offers drip and Nitro coffee from both La Colombe and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Figueroa said the new location in Bethlehem will be exactly the same.
"We have a large variety of donuts," she said. "We had classic but we also have gourmet donuts, French macarons and coffee. In Jim Thorpe we don’t have espresso, but we'll have espresso in Bethlehem."
She said Donerds will offer 16 to 20 flavors of donuts each day, including seasonal donuts.
"The seasonal has been very popular, and every season we have different donuts," she said. "We call ourselves 'the scientists of the perfect donuts.' We are always coming up with new experiments."
The classic donut flavors include favorites such as raised glazed and chocolate ring, along with more sophisticated options such as peanut butter cup, Oreo cheesecake, cannoli, bacon maple and more.
Their current seasonal donut is Hot Cocoa — a chocolate cake donut with a toasted marshmallow on top. Summer flavors included Strawberry Shortcake, Key Lime Pie and Berry Shortcake.
Donerds also offers breakfast burritos, and offers CBD infusions for all drinks from Pocono Organics. The infusion is described on its website as, “Proprietary hemp infused monk fruit sugar, abundant with CBD.”
"We actually have a lot of people who come from Bethlehem up to Jim Thorpe," Figueroa said. "I would say maybe 30 percent of our clients are from the area so the best thing now is that they’re not going to have to travel."
