Guilt Trip opens its ninth store in Belfast creating six jobs

The chain, founded by former rugby players Callum Black and Darren Cave, opened a 20-seater 750 square foot store on Belfast’s Lisburn Road following a £50,000 investment.

The new store has a distinctly New York feel – trendy and monochrome with splashes of bright illuminated neon signs adorning the walls alongside the brand’s best-selling donut cinnamon sugar and inventions of caramelised Biscoff custard filling, Biscoff glaze topped with white chocolate and cookie crumb.

Guilt Trip Coffee + Donuts has proven to be extremely popular with customers since launching in 2017. The firm has grown from strength to strength, bringing on board Adrian McLaughlin as a business partner, employing 80 people across its sites located in Belfast, Portstewart and Worcester as well as a team of staff to bake and decorate donuts at a purpose-built site on the outskirts of Belfast.

The incredible increase in demand has seen the company expand quickly, opening three new stores in Portstewart, Holywood and Worcester in 2020 and a further three stores so far this year.

Co-founder Darren Cave said: “Northern Ireland’s love affair donuts continues, we’re excited to expand to bring Guilt Trip to the south side of the city. Belfast’s Lisburn Road is a haven for independent coffee shops, and we hope Guilt Trip will complement the existing offering.

“We’ve experienced something of a meteoric rise in demand for our donuts and coffee, often selling out. We hand make, bake and glaze our donuts fresh every morning and everything we put into our donuts is made from scratch. In America, donuts are the go-to sweet snack to grab and go and we’re so pleased that we’re able to bring our single origin roast coffee and merchandise to donut lovers across Northern Ireland. We have our sights on further new sites both locally and in England which we hope to announce later this summer.”

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