International Success with 'Orbie'

Ever wonder why our trademark "Orbie" is used around the world?

Here's the story straight from our founder, Ed Anderson:

"It came about when we first began marketing in Europe. The French people had a difficult time pronouncing "Lil' Orbits" because of the apostrophe. Hence we registered "Orbie" which French people can readily pronounce.

We thus have two registered tradenames/trademarks which are 'Lil' Orbits' and 'Orbie'."

And why the duck?

Ever wonder what our international operators are doing?

Comments and stories about our overseas operators and distributors...

Cyprus and Greece alive and well with Mini-Donuts

Mario and Filios Fisher conduct a thriving business at one of the leading water parks in Cyprus. "Sometimes the lines are at least a block long," states Marios. Currently they have two high traffic locations and are expanding into a third. They use our concentrate and blend a fresh batch of mix every day using our power mixer and gram scale. They package the mix in 1 Kg. zip-lock bags for quality control.

They serve a dozen donuts in a tray and their customers have a choice of six toppings as shown. Great idea!


Marios' operation in Greece, including a new storefront.

Kids and donuts are a hit in the Czech Republic

Jarek Schubert, our distributor in the Czech Republic, is now expanding his family of operators at a rate of two per month and plans to rival "Gaby" in Puerto Rico. Gaby has locations at all the Wal*Mart and Sam's Club stores on the Puerto Rico island.

Jarek now promotes his kid's menu with free plush ducks, for small, medium and large "donut paks" (like McDonalds). He recently visited our home office after the National Restaurant Show and excitedly told us about his 30 locations and 9 mobile units throughout the country.

Meet our charter distributors, with us since 1987

During 1987 we began exporting at the behest of Francis Geron. Francis set up his booth in Belgium where nobody had ever heard of Mini-Donuts. That started it all. Francis distributes our entire line of equipment and supplies in several countries, including France and Belgium. Francis can be reached at geron.limbourg@skynet.be.

Francis serving one of the first Mini-Donuts in Europe.

Lil' Orbits now popular in Honduras

Here is a letter we recently received from Linda, in Honduras.

"Hi Mac, this is Lil' Orbits in Honduras, we started last Saturday in November, and we are happy, our sales are so good. We sold around 300 dozen in two days and we are preparing for this heavy weekend. The Kiosk is in Cascadas' Mall, a place that has a lot of people. Location is in Tegucigalpa, Honduras."

Fulvio Petratto discovers Lil' Orbits is a stand alone business in Italy

Besides running a successful art and visual supply company, Fulvio has started adding Lil' Orbits to many exhibitions that are held in major trade centers in Italy. He recently commented, "At first we bought a Lil' Orbits machine just to attract traffic to our booth and now we see that this business is very profitable and we're just getting started with other independent locations."

Lil' Orbits in Japan

Donut stands in Malaysia

Here is an email we recently received from P. Guna, an operator in Malaysia.

"Hello Mac,

"we have just opened two more outlets last week. One in Kota Kinabalu - Sabah (operator) and another in Johor Bahru (operated by our company). Johor Bahru is in the southern state in Malaysia next to Singapore.

Thanks and best regards, P. Guna."

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This just in from New Zealand

Jerry Drummond, our distributor in New Zealand, has 30 operators across the country, with 6 in large malls. One of the his largest operators uses six machines, both gas and electric. Jerry is also one of our licensed blenders of donut mix. "I really enjoy this business," says Drummond.

"We are proud operators in Wellington, New Zealand. Pictured are clients queued for their Fresh Hot Mini-Donuts. Lil' Orbit Donuts are very well received at the westpac Stadium (and other locations) with an average of 8,420 donuts being sold every three hours. Please send us another SS2400-G URGENTLY. Thank you." -- Keith and Mirusia Jaques

Pictured are operations at Thorton Street Fair, Wellington NZ and St. Mary's College

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Regular sized donuts in Norway

Norway seems to gravitate towards regular sized donuts with various icings. One of our operators, Katherine, took advantage of this preference and has established two beautiful Orbie donut shops in high traffic malls in Oslo. Last we heard, a third shop was on the way! Congratulations, Katherine, on a first class operation.

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Gilbert Dayrit, our distributor in the Philippines

Starting in September of 1999, Gilbert Dayrit has created a heavy presense through the Philippines. He now has 21 heavily trafficked locations in 21 shopping malls. His Mini-Donuts are sold for $0.50 per dozen. "What's great about this business is that the average return on investment is only three months, and the taste brings 'em back for more," explained Gilbert.
Gilbert reported one machine produced over 1 million Mini-Donuts in only eight months and he is now expanding into several mountain resorts and doing special events, with his portable reserve units.

Gilbert and his crew conducted a super promotion this February at the 'Hot Air Fest' in the Philippines... here are some pictures he sent us.

Enroute to launch..... Launching the balloon..... And, he feeds the crowds

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"Gaby" Correa, Puerto Rico is still our world leader

Scott "Mac" MacRae presented Gaby Correa with the outstanding operator plaque for his outstanding success in marketing Lil' Orbits in Puerto Rico. Gaby has managed to secure 31 prime locations, and 'Gaby Mini Donas' can be found in all of the Wal*Mart and Sam's Club stores on the island. Despite all this success, don't expect Gaby to keep all the wealth to himself, he has also helped others in Puerto Rico to establish their own Mini-Donut businesses.

With so many locations, Gaby does a tremendous volume of business, and consumes a massive amount of donut mix. It isn't unusual for Gaby to place orders for 500 bags of mix every three weeks, and as much as 850-1000 bags during peak times. Oh, and just to give you an idea... 1,000 bags of mix is the equivalent of 50,000 lbs (22,727 Kg) and a whopping 3,840,000 donuts!

Gaby runs a tight ship when it comes to his business. He personally visits each location at least four times a week and only hires qualified people to manage each location.

This just in: The latest Wal*Mart newsletter states: "Gaby Mini Donas currently employs 162 people. Earlier this year, the company was honored as one of the 20 Best Employers in Puerto Rico, a recognition attributed to Correa's search for excellence and business determination, along with a blend of good product and a strong partnership with Wal*Mart."

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News from Slovakia

Here is an e-mail we received from Martin, an operator in Slovakia.

"Our Kiosk is a wonderful success... In September we want to buy another machine, and next year we plan to buy a minimum of 3 machines! All customers love our donuts!! In 4 months we sold more than 100,000 donuts... it's good?

"We need more money to build a network of 'happy donuts' in our country, but as your said.. step by step.. thanks for all!"

Martin

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Sevilla, Spain alive and well

The Moyano brothers, Francisco and Fernando, have sparks some new innovations in merchandising their Orbie donuts based on their concession experience for the last 20 years in soft serve ice cream business. Their operators benefit from their constant follow up and service and it's developing into one big family. Some of their innovations include their bright and creative signage, custom serving boxes and a new custom built vendor cart that has the added security benefit of a canopy that lowers down to cover the machine after hours.

Find out more about the Moyano brothers business at their website: http://www.orbie.es/

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Mini-Donuts - Now in Taiwan!

Eric Peterson, an operator based in Taiwan, took the time to visit our offices here in the states, as soon below. (Pictured L to R - Intl Sales Manager Scott "Mac" MacRae, Eric Peterson and founder, Ed Anderson) Peterson brought Lil' Orbits Mini-Donuts to the country of Taiwan, where he has set up a wonderful kiosk that has attracted plenty of attention from local sweet tooths. Eric calls his operation "Honey Bee Enterprises". Since his inaugural showing at the Taiwan Food Fair, he is expanding at a controlled rate and hopes to have over 40 operations in his organization.

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