Founder of Doughlicious, Kathryn Bricken, is a pastry chef by training and originally from the US. She has a passion for baking and a wide circle of friends for whom she loves to bake. Her friends couldn’t get enough of her American style soft dough chocolate chip cookies and, as more and more people tried them, the demand grew and grew. In 2014 to meet the growing demand, Kathryn set up a small shop in Belgravia and Doughlicious was born.
The shop sold frozen dough balls for people to cook at home, but that was just the start. Kathryn exhibited at a specialty show at Olympia and also took on many other opportunities to promote Doughlicious. Now a wide range of doughs are sold in Planet Organic, Whole Foods, Costco, Selfridges Food Hall, M&S, Waitrose, and many other retailers across the UK.
New product development with Doughlicious
During the COVID-19 pandemic, business continued to grow an average of 300% per year – this rate has now continued for the past three years. The continued growth was in part due to a rapid pivot to selling directly to customers who wanted to bake at home. The Doughlicious team already knew about London South Bank University (LSBU) as their COO, Nishita Rai, is a former Bakery School Alumna. Therefore, when they had a new product development idea, they knew exactly who to approach for support – the London Agri-Food Innovation Clinic (LAFIC) team at LSBU. The new product they needed help to develop was a savoury, vegan, gluten-free dough - a cross between a scone and an American biscuit.
How has LAFIC supported Doughlicious?
Experts from the LAFIC team worked with Doughlicious throughout the new product development cycle providing support to develop flavours, water activity analysis, hydrocolloids analysis, and frozen shelf-life determination. The team also lent the business a machine to show water content so they could do that analysis on site during lockdown. The LAFIC team has also provided specialist marketing support to ensure that the new product reached new and exisitng markets effectively.
Kathryn explained that the support from the LAFIC team has expedited the whole product development life cycle. They now have an exceptional savoury biscuit dough that they believe is the first of its kind in the UK. They are receiving amazing feedback on the wonderful taste of the sun-dried tomato flavour, winning a great taste award from the Guild of Fine Foods.
Kathryn said, “The product development was massively speeded up due to support from the LAFIC team for which we are very thankful. We now have something really special that will have traction in the huge market out there for savoury – we are determined to get the message out that when you say ‘dough’ it does not have to be sweet. We are trying hard to bake the world a better place!”
We wish Doughlicious all the best for the future and we look forward to sharing any progress with you.
Our LAFIC programme, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, supported and promoted research and innovation in London's food businesses. This programme has unfortunately come to an end, but you can still discover growth opportunities and academic collaborations by connecting with us today.
