OFFBEAT REVEALS THE ULTIMATE CORK FLAVOURED DONUT

press release

OFFBEAT REVEALS THE ULTIMATE CORK FLAVOURED DONUT

Offbeat Donuts has created a new Tanora flavoured donut to mark six months in the Rebel City.  The leading bakery, which is proud to be 100% Irish, launched a competition asking the people of Cork to design a brand new donut for its popular store on French Church Street. 

The winning pure-Cork donut is the ‘Me Daza Donut’ - a term of approval in Cork slang. It’s filled with a tangerine cream, topped with a Tanora glaze and sprinkled with popping candy. The limited edition sweet treat is now on sale at Offbeat Donuts in Cork city. 

Tanora is a popular soft drink that was first introduced to Cork in the 1930s and remains a firm favourite today. 

Sandra O’Casey from Offbeat Donuts said, “We’ve had great fun with this competition and were blown away by the delicious suggestions from the people of Cork with fillings ranging from Jameson whiskey-flavoured cream and Rasa raspberry cordial, to savoury ones like Hillbillies chicken and black pudding. However, there could only be one winner and Tanora is such a uniquely Cork drink that we simply had to make it. ”

OffBeat is one of the largest fresh donut bakeries in Ireland and has eight stores in Dublin and Cork employing 120 people. Cork native Brian and his wife Sandra O’Casey began experimenting with flavours in a development kitchen located in their shed before they opened their first store in Pearse Station, Westland Row in May 2016. 

The donuts are freshly made from scratch on-site every day, with customers able to observe the entire baking process while in store.

LEADING IRISH BAKERY REVEALS HOW CORK vs DUBLIN TASTES DIFFER

Offbeat Donuts has made almost 18 million donuts fresh in store since 2016

Brian O'Casey, founder of Offbeat Donuts, pictured with team members Alanna Dolan and Chloe McCarthy. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

One of Ireland’s leading bakeries has revealed a surprising difference in the tastes of its customers in Dublin and Cork. Offbeat Donuts, which is proud to be 100% Irish, has found that customers in the capital seek out fruit flavours first. In Cork, it has emerged that consumers are in love with hazelnut, opting for kinder bueno and nutella flavours before any other. 

OffBeat is one of the largest fresh donut bakeries in Ireland and has eight stores in Dublin and Cork employing 120 people. Since 2016, Offbeat Donuts has made a whopping 17.65 million donuts. That’s enough donuts to line the route from Dublin to Cork more than five times over. 

In Cork, the most popular flavours are ‘Bueno Bueno’, ‘Happy Hippo’ and ‘Nutella’ all of which contain hazelnut and chocolate toppings or fillings. In contrast, customers in Dublin are drawn towards ‘Offbeat Jam’, ‘Apple Crumble’ and ‘Cookies and Creme’ first.

Plant based donuts are also increasingly popular in both locations, however, sales in Cork are increasing at a faster rate and now account for 15% of all sales in Cork and 7% of sales in Dublin. Offbeat Donuts now offers three vegan flavours including biscoff, chocolate cookie and chocolate ganache. 

Alanna Dolan and Chloe McCarthy

Husband and wife duo Brian and Sandra O’Casey began experimenting with flavours in a development kitchen located in their shed before they opened their first store in Pearse Station, Westland Row in May 2016. 

Sandra O’Casey said, “In September 2022 we opened our first store outside of the capital in French Church Street, in Cork City. It has been a huge success and we’ve produced around 400,000 donuts in store since then. We always wondered if there were any differences in the tastes between our customers in Cork and Dublin and now we know. What’s clear is that our customers in the Rebel County love hazelnuts and chocolate while in Dublin they prefer our classic Jam Donut or Apple Crumble.  It’s incredible to think that we’ve produced nearly 18 million donuts since 2016. We work with some incredible Irish suppliers who have been with us since day one, we continue to work with them as we develop new and exciting flavours to suit all tastes.”

The first donut flavour Brian and Sandra O’Casey created was ‘Glazed’ which was quickly followed by ‘Sprinkles’. It’s estimated that Offbeat Donuts has used more than 8 tonnes of 100s and 1000s over the last 7 years with approximately 4,400 sprinkles on each donut. 

OffBeat donuts are freshly made from scratch on-site every day, with customers able to observe the entire baking process while in store. In addition to its large selection of hand-crafted donuts, OffBeat serves loaded ice-cream cones, ethically sourced coffee, cookies and freshly made milkshakes.