JASON E. KAPLAN So your inspiration was French pastries and the economics of the post-recession years, when people were going out but not spending a lot of money. But Portland was already on the map — we already had this kind of doughnut culture. Hats off to Voodoo; they really were the first people to do something different, and I have a lot of respect for that. I think it started people thinking, “What else could you do differently?” For us, it was like, “What if we just try and make a very gourmet version of a doughnut?” I love it because you see so much diversity, especially in Portland. Everybody’s doing their own thing, and I have so much respect for that. You’ve got Mikiko Mochi Donuts, you’ve got Pip’s, you’ve got Doe, who’s all vegan; everybody kind of has their own little thing going on, and it’s very diverse. I know the press likes to play up this what’s-the-best-doughnut competition, but behind the scenes, we’re all very supportive of each other. I very deliberately don’t go in their territory. They’re very good at what they’re doing. Let everybody do their own thing. Let everybody have their own space. Can you talk about how the pandemic affected your business model? It was so hard on the industry in general. People are not in the restaurant industry to make a lot of money. It’s very grueling, difficult, challenging work. But at the heart of it is hosting. People are called to serve, we want to make good experiences. To have all of that ripped away in the pandemic — and a lot of small-business owners didn’t have the resources and weren’t able to get lots of loans. We had the mandate to close and I just cried my eyes out the next day. A lot of really good business owners that have been in this industry for decades and had good business models and were really good at what they do — they just got obliterated, and it breaks my heart. A lot of people are just so burned out that they walked away. I get that too. I think that we’re very lucky to still be here. I don’t take that for granted at all. I’m very, very grateful to our customers and our clientele for keeping us going. What’s the future for Blue Star? I’m so proud of our doughnut bites. This is a new product that we just kind of invented out of desperation, and now it’s become over 30% of our revenue and has 40-state distribution. We’re so proud of the quality that we’ve been able to maintain with a large-scale production; we’re really committed to the quality and integrity of the product. And we’re also working on our next airport location; we have a spot that is under construction right now. That’ll be opening in June, 24. That will be our international showcase location. I’m just really honored and proud to be representing doughnuts in Oregon; I think we’re the only doughnut shop at Port of Portland. 15
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