WINCHELL'S DOUGHNUT CHAIN MARKETING TO SUPERMARKETS

AMY I. STICKEL

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Winchell's here, a 300-unit West Coast doughnut and coffee house chain, began marketing some of its products to supermarkets this month.

Items now available to retailers include ready-to-eat jumbo minidoughnuts, which are 30% larger than traditional minidoughnuts, and packages of a half-dozen regular doughnuts. Thaw-and-sell and thaw-and-finish products are also available for in-store bakeries.

The products are marketed through Winchell's Food Products division, a frozen foods operation, which was created in April. Since its opening the division has primarily served restaurants and contract feeders such as schools, colleges and sporting arenas, said Victor Turner, vice president and general manager of the division.

Turner said Winchell's decided to branch into retailing so its products would be where the consumers are, rather than having the consumers come to its shops. Products are currently available to operators in Arizona and California, with rollout to other markets in the near future.