Alana Robb, Michelle Farrell and Charlotte Farrell ready to serve their ‘light and fluffy’ product at OMG Decadent Donuts in Griffith. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Leeton woman Michelle Farrell has opened a new donut store in Griffith Central, bringing back ring-shaped sweetened dough to a town that lost its last Donut King franchise store in 2022.
Ms Farrell is a licensee of the Queensland brand OMG Decadent Donuts, which was launched in 2017 and makes special vegan-friendly gluten and dairy-free donuts, milkshakes and ice cream. OMG has 70 stores across Australia. The Griffith Central store, which opened on a permanent basis just before Christmas, is the first in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
“My whole life has been about helping people,” Ms Farrell said.
“I was a lifesaver when I lived on the coast. I’ve worked for the Rural Fire Service and done first aid. This for me is about helping people who can’t have something that they should be able to enjoy.”
Ms Farrell noticed an OMG store when she was in Dubbo last year and was so impressed by the products she got in touch with the founders to help her set up her own store.
“We started as a pop-up shop on a market day stall in the mall. We were so popular, people had to wait for 45 minutes for a donut. I had no idea how crazy Griffith was for donuts. The owner of the mall came up to me and asked if we wanted to stay.
“We now have a three-year contract and are open five days a week. It’s a very family-orientated business; I work with my daughter Charlotte and her lifelong best friend Alana.”
The new store owner said people could be sceptical about her products until they tried them.
“I had a twentysomething-year-old guy who’d never had a donut in his life. I gave him one for free to try – he nearly fell off his chair when he tried it.
“When you say something is gluten-free, it tends to have negative connotations. People think it’s dense and tasteless. But gluten-free has come a long way. Our donuts are light and fluffy and so full of flavour.”
The exact ingredients are a closely guarded secret, but Ms Farrell said they were soy-based.
Teacher Meg Signor is a regular OMG customer.
“The donuts are delicious. I live in Canberra, so I first tried them there. But it’s great now that whenever I come back to Griffith to visit my parents, I can have them here too.”
Meg Signor is a big fan of the donuts. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The name OMG is said to have originated from someone who tried a donut and immediately said words to the effect of: “Oh my God, I can’t believe they are gluten-free.”
Ms Farrell explained the difference between being a licensee and a franchisee.
“It’s my business. I’ve got guidelines to follow, they’re very helpful, but they don’t have their hands in my pocket. The only thing I need to do is buy my dough mix and sugars from them.”
Now the team have bigger plans afoot.
“We want to have a marquee that my daughter will take to Leeton, Narrandera and other places in the district. We do catering too for weddings and events too.
“We are also planning to serve coffee and a ‘not coffee’ product.”
OMG Decadent Donuts, located next to Flight Centre in Griffith Central, is open from Wednesday to Sunday.
Loading ...
