Had your fill of cronuts? Eaten all the townies money can buy? Then you might favor a duffin. What's that, you say? It's a muffin-doughnut mix, and right now this delicacy is coming with a side order of bile, courtesy of the fight breaking out between Bea Vo, founder of Bea's Bloomsbury bakery and Starbucks.
Vo claims that for over two years, she has been selling this pastry through her four bakeries in London. Last week, Starbucks introduced this treat to all of its 760 outlets using the same ingredients, even going so far as to trademark the name in the U.K. As Vo points out to The Independent: "Of course the concept of the doughnut/muffin has been around online for a few years, but this version with nutmeg is my particular take on it. I don't mind if Starbucks chooses to create a crappy version of my duffin, but don't trademark it, which gives you the legal right to prevent anyone else using the name duffin, especially the people who used it for two years before you."
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A spokesperson for Starbucks issued a statement, as well: "Since launching, we have discovered there are other duffins out there in the U.K., including at Bea's of Bloomsbury…however we'd like to make it clear that neither Starbucks nor Rich's Products has suggested to Bea's of Bloomsbury that they will attempt to stop them selling their own duffins." While Vo remains to be assured of this fact, we can't help but think that we may need to sample the "evidence" as soon as possible. Who's up for a trip to the bakery this weekend? (The Independent)
Photo: Via The Independent.
