What makes Mister Donut so unique and fascinating?
Reporter: Haruka Inami (11)
We visited the “Duskin Museum” in Osaka, Suita City to interview Ms. Akiko Kobayashi, and Ayako Tsunoda from the Public Relations Department, Duskin Co., Ltd. and also to experience the fun and interesting, “MISDO Kitchen”, where people of all ages can experience making an actual donut by themselves.
How is the company, “Duskin” and “Mister Donut” connected?
Did you know that the company behind both “Duskin” and “Mister Donut” is the same? Duskin is a company that rents and sells cleaning products such as mops and mats, while Mister Donut is a shop that makes and sells donuts. Now, you might wonder, what’s the connection between cleaning products and donuts? Mister Donut was founded by Mr. Harry Winokur in Boston, USA, in 1955. In 1970, he met Seiichi Suzuki, the founder of Duskin. Mr. Winokur became close friends with Mr. Suzuki and invited him to America to try the donuts from his company. When Mr. Suzuki tasted those donuts, he was deeply impressed by their deliciousness and decided to bring these delightful donuts to Japan. In the past, donuts made in Japan were mostly of the traditional type. Mr. Suzuki, wanting to spread smiles across Japan through donuts, took it upon himself to introduce Mister Donut to the country.
What makes Mister Donut so unique and fascinating?
Ms. Ayako Tsunoda: Mister Donut makes donuts by hand, right in the store.
Ms. Akiko Kobayashi: Mister Donut offers a wide range of affordable and accessible products. The price is more reasonable, which makes it easy for both children and adults to buy and share them with their families. Additionally, Mister Donut is a brand that is loved by many, so bringing it as a gift is sure to please everyone. If you want to buy a cake, it may be a bit expensive, so you need to have the courage to do so, but for Mister Donut, children can also buy it, and I think that is what’s so fascinating and unique about Mister Donut.
What is the most popular flavor or type of donuts, and how was it created?
Ms Akiko Kobayashi: The most popular donut in Mister Donuts is “Pon De Ring.” I am sure almost everyone knows this soft, sweet, and chewy donut that we always see inside the showcases of the Mister Donuts stores. It was made in 2003, and it was and is still an extremely popular donut. The shop made a questionnaire, and according to the results, they found out that what the customers valued most was the texture of the donut. They searched for a texture that had never existed before, and from there the fourth texture, “mochi mochi” was born. At first, they thought of making the normal, ringed shape. However, after a couple of tries, they found out that it was difficult to maintain the clean shape of a ring. To achieve a cleaner shape, they made several adjustments, and the result was the now-famous flower-like Pon De Ring.
Try visiting the Duskin Museum
Before interviewing the staff, we experienced the “MISDO Kitchen” (first floor in the Duskin Museum), where we can experience making actual donuts and decorating them with chocolate sauce and syrup. They let us watch the actual staff fry and finish baking our donuts. It was very fascinating, being able to watch something that we can rarely see in a normal store. On top of that, best of all, we were able to eat the donuts we decorated. When the donuts we eat at a normal store are fresh, the donuts we eat at the kitchen are freshly-fried, which is ten times more fresh and hot compared to just, “fresh”. In addition, the “MISDO Museum” also fascinated me. Lined with photos of more than 2,000 Mister Donut stores from the first to the 2,000th, the museum tells the long history of Mister Donut. On top of that, there is also the “Osoujikan(Cleaning Pavilion)” on the second floor, where we were able to play the mop game, using a mop to clean away all the dust and ticks off on the floor. We were also able to look at Duskin’s history, from cleaning chemical dust clothes to mop, it was quite thrilling to look at each piece of information. Going through the Duskin Museum was a fun, and exciting visit, and I think it should be on your next booking schedule.
Reporter’s note:
I like eating sweets, and I absolutely love donuts. It was a fun experience for me to visit the Duskin Museum, and go around all the booths. Thank you very much, Ms. Akiko Kobayashi and Ms. Ayako Tsunoda for taking us around the museum, and for letting us interview you for the article. I think I’m much more knowledgeable about the history of Mister Donut and Duskin compared to before I went there. Thank you again for letting us take your precious time to interview you.
Meet the reporter: My favorite animal is a fox. Aren’t they so fluffy and cute? I also like listening to J-pop. My favorite artists are Yoasobi and Ado. I’m on summer break now, but I really want school to start!