Meet the creator of Mister Donut’s famed Pon De Ring

How many people would be willing to work for seven years in a doughnut shop, just for a shot at joining the company’s corporate team? Masaaki Nakamura did. After spending almost a decade of his life in a Mister Donut outlet selling doughnuts, the 53-year-old eventually rose the ranks to become the section chief of overseas development.

THE ICONIC DOUGHNUT

In 2003, he created the Pon De Ring, which ended up being Mister Donut’s most famous and Instagrammable offering. A ring of chewy mochi-like balls joined together to form a garland and dipped in glaze, it was one of the top-selling items at Mister Donut’s Singapore pop-up last year.

Masaaki also flew to Singapore for the Jurong Point pop-up, where he personally churned out doughnuts non-stop to cater to the three-hour queues. “I lost 6kg after that,” he told 8days.sg with a laugh.

Mister Donut was founded in the US. But it really only took off in Japan in the ’70s, after Japanese cleaning supplies company Duskin brought the brand in. It is now headquartered in Osaka, where there is a Mister Donut College for new employees (which 8days.sg recently toured).

FINANCE GRADUATE SELLING DOUGHNUTS

Masaaki himself graduated from 'doughnut school' 31 years ago. But the energetic, excitable man actually has a degree in finance. “I studied finance in university, because that was the only course I could get into,” he chortled.

After university, he joined Duskin. “The company has two business arms, doughnuts and cleaning. I chose to work at Mister Donut because I found it more interesting,” recalled Masaaki, who worked part-time as a customer service representative in hotels during his university days.

Even till today, every Mister Donut employee is required to work on the shop floor before they are assessed for corporate roles. “If you don’t understand how the shop works, you can never perform well in other functions like procurement and PR,” Masaaki noted.

WORKED ON THE SHOP FLOOR FOR SEVEN YEARS

The challenge he faced as a new Mister Donut hire was also the uncertainty; there was no fixed timeframe where he could expect to be promoted to a desk at the air-conditioned HQ. “Some people worked at the shop for five years, seven years or even 15 years. It all depended on your ability and performance,” he recalled. “There were a lot of people who quit along the way because they didn’t want to continue working in a service job.”

Masaaki persevered for seven years before he was assigned to work in the company’s product development department. “But that was 30 years ago. Times are different now. [Working on the shop floor] is still a requirement, but you don’t have to work there for seven years,” he said.

During his time as a shop employee, he trained as a chef where he learnt how to make all the doughnuts on the menu. Around 2003, Duskin wanted to introduce exclusive doughnuts for the Japanese market. “For almost 40 years, Mister Donut has been selling original items from the US. Japan didn’t have any signature items, so we wanted a Japanese mainstay,” Masaaki recounted.

THE "MOTHER AND FATHER" OF THE PON DE RING

The company ran surveys with customers to find out what doughnuts they wanted. Some responses called for a doughnut with a chewy texture similar to Japan’s famous rice mochi. Masaaki brainstormed with a Japanese flour company and together, they came up with the Pon De Ring.

“They are the ‘father’ of the Pon De Ring, and we are its mother,” he quipped. “They came up with the flour mix and I translated it into a product. Without one or the other, there wouldn’t be this doughnut.”

As for why it was named the Pon De Ring, Masaaki revealed that the doughnut was inspired by the popular Brazilian pão de queijo (pronounced as “pon-deh-kay-jo”). It is a small ball-shaped cheese bread that is soft and chewy, but slightly crispy on the outside.

Instead of individual orbs, Mister Donut made it into a classic doughnut shape by joining the balls to form a garland. “Right on the first day of sales, it flew off the shelves. We ran out of ingredients!” Masaaki shared.

As with many Japanese products, the Pon De Ring has its own cutesy mascot called the Pon De Lion, which helped popularise the doughnut with its amusing ads. Like this almost 20 years old Lion King-inspired clip, which showed the doughnut lion uncontrollably munching on its own mane.

Mister Donut fans can soon get their hands on the Pon De Ring when the brand opens its first permanent Singapore outlet on May 21. The franchised takeaway kiosk will offer Misdo’s best-selling doughnuts, which will be fried fresh on-site. Masaaki, who will be flying here to make doughnuts again, said: “Our target is to open nine stores in three years.”

Mister Donut Singapore opens on May 21 at #02-27A Junction 8, 9 Bishan Place, S579837. May 20 early access for RE&S &Rewards members. More updates via Instagram.

This story was originally published in 8Days.