CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

One downside of the Ohio Donut Trail (for readers) has been that many of the places I have written about are off the beaten path, hard to find and sometimes have quirky hours. Fans of the Ohio Donut Trail will be happy with this new addition, because a UDF is easy to find throughout Ohio and they all have very convenient hours.

United Dairy Farmers (UDF) started in 1939 in Norwood, Ohio at the time it was an innovative concept. This was a place where people could pick up milk on the go for less than the cost of having it delivered. Over the years, the company grew, locations expanded to close to 200 in three states and the range of products offered increased exponentially including the award winning Homemade Brand Ice Cream. In 2019, UDF started their own bakery with a product line including donuts. The donuts debuted in November of 2019 and consumers found they were definitely different – most are square!

Most people in Ohio are familiar with United Dairy Farmers. I have a long history with UDF, the first ice cream I recall eating came from a UDF in Clintonville. I recently wrote about some of my favorite food things and one was UDF Homemade Brand Ice Cream. I was contacted the next day by UDF thanking me for picking their Ice Cream as my favorite. I was asked if I had tried THEIR donuts. I said no so they offered to send me some samples and I said YES!

They took the delivery very seriously. UDF makes donuts for most of their locations at a new state of the art production facility / bakery they constructed in 2019. The site includes a bakery proofer made in Germany that required a flatbed semi to deliver it to its new home in suburban Cincinnati. Delivering donuts to me was much easier but I will say I was impressed. The head of their Central Ohio distribution center delivered them to me personally after calling to make sure I was home. The donuts were freshly baked that morning and I had my samples by early afternoon. My entire experience made me feel like I was dealing with a small family business instead of a moderately sized regional business empire.

I love donuts. My son LOVES donuts. My wife likes most donuts. I was hoping for a box but I received four! UDF makes thirteen varieties of donuts. I did not receive samples of each type, but I did have an opportunity to try most of their top sellers. My family and I took the responsibility of taste testing very seriously, that is after my impatient son and patient spouse observed the first directive of food writing – no one eats until the photos are finished. It was almost a photo finish for our favorite. The Sprinkle donut was exceptionally good, while that was my son’s favorite and my number two both my wife and I were smitten by the glazed croissant. Some people call them doughsants, others cronuts, we just call them delicious. We were both devastated when my wife’s dog (Stella the Destroyer) ate 1/2 of one. The dog still lives with us but is on triple secret probation. I can certainly understand her desire to steal. I am typically a cake donut eater but in this batch I was pleased to find I really enjoyed their yeast donuts as well. Also very noteworthy, our few remaining donuts still tasted good the next day and the day after that. In my experience many donuts tend to have a shelf life of about one day, these have some longevity to them which is good because I can’t see myself getting less than a dozen at a time.

Another endorsement for these donuts, I was happy to pay money for them the next time I was at a UDF. Unfortunately, there was only one glazed croissant left and yes, it was amazingly good. Thanks UDF! If you are an Ultimate Donut Fan you will want to give these a try.