02/24/2023
April 2023 marks 5 years of Plant Joy 🥹
As we wrap up almost 4 years on Wyandotte St., I can’t help but feel one feeling more than anything else: grateful. 🙏
5 years ago I started Plant Joy with zero business experience (my degrees are in Neuroscience, not business or marketing 🤣).
Despite not knowing much about running a business, I knew:
🍩 Windsor didn’t have a “doughnut destination”. Of course we have a few bakeries that also make doughnuts, but doughnuts were not their main focus, and there was really no one making doughnuts a destination, with unique gourmet doughnuts and fun flavours.
🍩 No one was making vegan doughnuts (fried, yeast risen doughnuts😉)
🍩 I had built up years of experience baking and decorating goodies throughout my undergrad degree (mostly for bake sales). I was confident with cupcakes and cookies but doughnuts were another story. There were so many factors — temperature, moisture, rising time, frying — that I was excited to practice and perfect.
As I started sharing news of my new venture, word spread. I began renting space from , worked midnights in their kitchen, received a grant from (now .yqg!) that allowed me to buy our first stand mixer (and stop mixing 40L of dough by hand 🤪)… We won and were nominated for awards (over a dozen now!), we were featured in twice (even the front page!), and above all: we gained so many loyal followers, many of whom have become good friends.
I began to grow a team, and learned how to delegate the process that I had spent countless hours perfecting. And our team grew in their confidence and skills, too. grew from kitchen staff to shop opener and lead baker to becoming our Manager who has been integral to our day to day. And .na started by washing dishes and has grown into a supervisory role, and many customers have told us they are one of the best people to come in and chat with.
Despite the size of 5622 Wyandotte St. E., we’ve grown so much here and I am so proud of what we’ve created. Because while it started with me in 2018, our success has also depended upon the amazing people who work at Plant Joy.
One of the things I’m really proud of is doing our best, whenever possible, to source organic and fair trade ingredients. Of course along the way we’ve dealt with shortages, but sourcing the highest quality ingredients possible has been something that I’ve put a lot of effort into. And we’ve never used artificial colours and flavours, but we’ve still managed to make beautiful, eye catching and delicious treats.
Finally, I could not be more grateful for all of our customers. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for telling your friends and family about us. Thank you for supporting us even through all the changes over the last few years.
We won Best Doughnuts in Windsor-Essex 3 years in a row (not best vegan doughnuts… best doughnuts. Period. 😉) And we won Best New Business from the Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce.
I started this business at the age of 25 and I’ve had to learn many (many) lessons along the way. There have been so many challenges and difficult moments — and now at the age of 30 I reflect upon the last 5 years in business and I know that I did the best I could with the knowledge and resources I had. Saying goodbye to 5622 Wyandotte St. E. is truly bittersweet — it’s the end of an era. And ultimately, I’m so grateful for everything we’ve been able to create in this tiny shop.
Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏💛🍩
If you’d like, I’d love if you could share something about the last 5 years in business — whether it’s your favourite flavour, a special moment you shared with our doughnuts (a wedding, baby shower, birthday?) or any other moment that warmed your heart.
📹 video by
📸 photography by
💄 makeup by
👫 customers: .jimenezzz
