Hoppers Crossing baker feeds doughnut craze with 2.4 tonnes of Nutella a week

NO WONDER there’s a Nutella shortage. This baker says he uses 2.4 tonnes of the sweet stuff a week to fill doughnuts that feed Melbourne’s latest food craze.

Amidst the frenzy surrounding a Thomastown milkbar's nutella filld donuts, we tracked down the bakery that provides them, and has been selling them to reservoir residents for years. Picture: Adam Elwood

A HOPPERS Crossing baker is the latest to cash in on Melbourne’s Nutella doughnut craze, which he says has helped push production up to 10,000 doughnuts a day.

Daniel Bartalotta, 23, bought his parents Brumby’s bakery last September, renamed it Daniel’s Bakery and in one year has turned it into arguably the busiest bakery in Wyndham.

“We sell between 3000-10,000 doughnuts a day, depending on orders,” Mr Bartalotta said.

Nutella-filled doughnuts are still by far the most popular sold at the store.

“Nutella doughnuts are 50 per cent of the flavour sales. The other 50 per cent is the other 19 flavours,” Mr Bartalotta said.

“We use a lot of nutella. We use about 2400kg of nutella a week.”

The 2.4 tonnes surpasses the 600kg Carlo Cappello, the owner of Reservoir bakery Il Forno Ciabatteria, said he used a week. Thomastown milk bar owner Mick Samia, who was selling up to 4000 donutellas a day, accidentally sparked a social media frenzy with the treats in May.

The donutella craze has been blamed for causing a shortage of the hazelnut chocolate spread in Melbourne.

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Mr Bartalotta said his small bakery at Hogan’s Corner became popular after he renovated the store and changed the entire menu, which now feature 20 flavours of doughnuts including Nutella.

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Other flavours are salted caramel, cherry ripe, peanut butter, fresh cream and jam and lemon meringue.

The bakery is known to have lines out the doors waiting for the sweet treats.

“At its peak time, people were waiting 45 minutes to be served with seven staff members behind the counters.”

Mr Bartalotta has been baking doughnuts since before he could see over the counter. He started working in his parents bakery after school when he was in primary school, frying jam doughnuts and making sausage rolls and pies.

“I used to stand on milk crates to serve customers,” Mr Bartalotta said.

Mr Bartalotta said one of the keys to the bakery’s success was constantly changing the menu and making new creations.

“I don’t make the same things every day.”

He has created the new “podnuts” which have MARS pods on them with the flavour cookies and cream, snickers, mars, twix and raspberry and cream.

“We’re selling about 500 a day of them.”

But his sweet success doesn’t come easy.

Mr Bartalotta works from 6pm-7am on weekdays and 6pm-9am on weekends.

“They’re all individually made so it takes a bit of time. A lot of love goes into them.”

Daniel’s Bakery is at 150 Hogans Rd, Hoppers Crossing.