Doughnut maker 'can't keep up since going viral'

When Richard Holt's speciality doughnuts were reviewed by a US TikToker earlier this month, he was not expecting to become overwhelmed with orders.

Mr Holt, 33, a pastry chef from Anglesey, worked in Michelin star restaurants in London before he decided to move back home and take over the Melin Llynon windmill in Llanddeusant.

At the start of October, TikToker Kalani Smith visited and called the doughnuts - which Mr Holt names Mônuts - the "best he has ever had", leading to a big uplift in demand.

"We are so grateful for Kalani and the response from everyone," Mr Holt said.

Mr Holt opened a patisserie at the Melin Llynon when he was 26, but in 2020 the Covid lockdown came into place and scuppered his plans.

"Over a year into the lockdown, we started looking into making doughnuts. I first checked the local area in case anyone else was selling them but found no-one else was," he said.

A temporary plan at first, Mr Holt and his team continued to make and sell the doughnuts which started to become popular.

"It started getting busier and we started making the doughnuts quicker. The business has been going now around four years," he said.

Food reviewer Mr Smith, who goes by the name Kalani Ghost Hunter (KGH) online, racks up millions of views posting his reviews on social media.

After initially building up a following investigating the paranormal, a pivot to reviewing British culinary staples has seen Mr Smith's follower count balloon to more than three million on TikTok alone.

Recently Mr Smith travelled back to the UK to review more food spots which included Mônuts.

Taking to TikTok, Mr Smith called the doughnuts "second to none" and added that they were the best he has had "anywhere in the world".

Mr Holt said he "missed" the Tik Toker by five minutes as he was in the kitchen at the time.

"My staff, who are also fans of him, didn't recognise him when they served him either," he added.

"He posted three videos and they were all positive. So it was a massive relief."

Since then, customers have travelled far and wide with popularity continuing to grow.

"We had a family from Stockport specifically travel to us for our doughnuts. It's been so busy ever since," he said.

"We've been selling more doughnuts than we usually do on a Bank Holiday in August."

While the added business has been welcome, it has not been without it downsides.

Mr Holt has experienced anxiety since learning that his business was being reviewed with the knowledge that "millions" of people would watch it.

"It started the morning that I was told he'd been in our queue," he said.

"I was like, I don't know what he's going to say about them."

The review was, of course, extremely positive but Mr Holt has still been left "crippled with cramps" thinking about how he will satisfy all of his new customers.

He even stayed up all night going into Sunday morning in an effort to make sure they did not sell out of doughnuts.

"We know what we're doing is to the best of our ability, and as long as we keep doing that, then I guess I can keep my anxiety under control," he said.