To mark National Doughnut Week, DENISE BARKLEY meets the couple behind a gourmet treat

SOFT, sweet, sticky and irresistible, people come from miles for their weekly ‘fix’ of Pippin Doughnuts.

Brazilian-born Mario and Betina Evangelista, the couple behind the phenomenon, hand-make 6,000 gourmet doughnuts each week at their Kembrey Park, Swindon, base – and all are snapped up in double-quick time at the markets and businesses they visit.

“We are so proud of our delicious doughnuts – they are an artisan product,” said Mario. “They are freshly made from scratch each day, using ingredients from local suppliers.”

Regulars make a pilgrimage each Sunday to buy their Pippin doughnuts at the farmers’ market outside Swindon’s McArthurGlen outlet village.

Market manager Kardien Gerbrands, known to everyone as Gerb, said: “People just can’t stop talking about Pippin Doughnuts and it’s easy to see why; this is a top-quality product and, personally, I would hike it across town on a wet windy day if I was in the mood for one.”

The 4,000 staff working at Nationwide’s head office in Swindon are also big fans.

Mario grinned: “We sell a doughnut every second when we go there each week – 1,000 doughnuts in a couple of hours. They absolutely love them.”

At Stroud farmers’ market, renowned as one of the biggest and best in the UK, another 1,000 doughnuts fly off the Pippin stall each Saturday. Bloomfields Fine Foods stores in Shrivenham and Highworth sell them on Thursday and Friday and Pippin are regulars at farmers’ markets in Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester too.

National Doughnut Week, in aid of The Children’s Trust for youngsters with brain injury, runs from May 6 to 13, so there’s no better time to sink your teeth into the gorgeous stickiness of Pippin doughnuts, which come with a tempting array of fillings and toppings.

There are a clutch of ‘regular’ flavours include the traditional doughnut oozing with mixed berry jam or dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar, plus chocolate, vanilla custard, lemon curd and butterscotch with hazelnut.

“We can produce up to 35 different flavours, and every week we have a guest doughnut, maybe Tiramisu, maple and pecan or chocolate and hazelnut,” Mario revealed. “We have a range of seasonal jams too, such as apricot, orange and vanilla or gooseberry and cider.

“The glazed doughnuts topped with lemon and pistachio or lime and coconut are a winner, and then there are the classic double fillings such as rhurbarb and custard, strawberries and cream and blackberries, apple and custard.”

Oh my goodness, the mouth waters . . . A single doughnut is £1.50 and Pippin also sells them in boxed multiples too.

“They just fly away,” said Mario. “At Nationwide, for example, lots of people buy a box for the office team and another one to take home.”

Husband-and-wife Mario, 52, and Betina, 43, who live in Faulkland, near Bath, bought Pippin Doughnuts three years ago and set about establishing a name for their unique product. They perfected their doughnuts, doubled production and then disaster struck – In December 2015 a fire destroyed their premises on Kembrey Park.

“It was a massive setback,” said Mario. “It took us three months to find alternative premises at Kembrey Trade Centre and acquire new equipment – but we have come back fighting and it has taken us on to good things, we have six employees now too.”

Brought up in the city of Piracicaba, in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil, food figured large in Mario’s upbringing.

“By complete coincidence, my grandmother used to have a business making doughnuts and my mum had a food business too, she made and delivered the traditional Brazilian fried savoury snacks called Salgados to schools for their lunch,” Mario explained.

He went on to set up his own motorbike food delivery service.

“Brazilians like to eat hot food for lunch and dinner, so we cooked traditional Brazilian food that everyone loves, like rice, beans and lots of meat, and delivered it to them,” he added.

He moved to the UK 26 years ago and, for 12 years, worked as an auditor, which took him away to Europe most weeks, meaning he saw little of Betina and their three daughters. He needed a better work-life balance, and Pippin was the perfect business opportunity.

“I love it, it’s very hard work but good fun,” Mario grinned. “From Wednesday to Sunday I start at 3am - the dough is prepared the day before and is ready in the prover.

“Each day we have fried and filled the entire batch by 6.30am - they are as fresh as you can get!”

You might think that the Evangelista family, including daughters Jessica, 17, Jasmine, 13, and Ayona, seven, would be on doughnut overload, but not a bit of it.

“We may be in the doughnut business but we all love doughnuts – maybe too much, I don’t know how we can eat so many!” laughed Mario. “I have three ready-made testers in my three daughters, and every new flavour must be approved by them.

“I love the comments from our regulars at our market stalls – they are there early every week to get their doughnut fix. It’s a bit of a party atmosphere really.”

Pippin is looking to expand, and hoping to gain more sales venues in the near future.

Mario added: “The most important point is that our doughnuts are freshly made, and we need to keep control of that. We don’t want them being sold the day after they are produced, they have to be eaten on the day for optimum flavour and freshness.”

If you live in Swindon, on Fridays you can have your freshly-made doughnuts delivered straight to your door – perfect for morning coffee with friends, an office party or just an indulgent end-of-week treat. Orders need to be made before 12 noon on Thursday — visit the website at pippindoughnuts.co.uk.