Visit a new city long enough to grab a quick, sugary breakfast one morning and you will likely search for the best donut shop within a 15-20 minute drive. That happened to my wife and I almost twelve and a half years ago in Denver. There was Winchell’s Donut House and Voodoo Doughnut and surprisingly little else. As an Alliance native my favorite was Daylight Donuts – from scarfing a plate-size chocolate frosted cinnamon roll while my jaw was still numb from the dentist as a kid to chef salads on lunch break working at the paper.
Jason and Teresa Judd opened the latest Daylight location on January 9 with a minimum waste attitude from recycling through Keep Alliance Beautiful to donating the day’s leftover donuts to Community Table.
Prior to the dawn of 2025, local residents could purchase freshly baked donuts at the grocery store or bakery cooperative though neither location was a dedicated donut shop. Teresa said her husband had been wanting to start a business. She left her job at Ken and Dale’s telling him a new venture “would have to be something I love . . .”, in other words, the food industry. Jason inquired about the details of opening a Daylight Donuts location. “She wanted something like a pastry shop or a bakery, so we compromised,” he explained.
Teresa’s culinary interest goes back years to when she worked at the Ranch House when they lived in Texas. After moving to Nebraska she cooked at The Remington Club in Minatare. Jason, who is also an engineer with BNSF Railway, noted this is the third business he’s owned and operated following a carpet cleaning/restoration service and years as a truck driver. The first “brick and mortar” variety has “a lot more to it” such as inventory and different tax considerations.
One of the employees helped facilitate recycling at the donut shop, contacting KAB for a bin. The tote, one of five along the 300 block of that alley, fills about once a week with cardboard, paperboard and two-and-a-half gallon plastic icing buckets. Jason explained that the cooking oil (beef tallow) recycles itself through a power filter daily. Although they are still short of the six-month mark for a new batch of oil, the couple said they will probably obtain a recycling dumpster or similar container so it can be reused in a different capacity. The business saves on electricity by only having one freezer, for breakfast ingredients. Also, there is less waste from drinks in bottles and cans versus a fountain setup’s cups, straws and lids that (in my experience) are less likely to be recycled.
On a number of occasions I have taken donations of as many as 15 dozen donuts to Community Table for people eating lunch at the Masonic Center (free to anyone 11:30-12:30 Monday through Thursday). “I do like to donate it to the community and pay it forward,” Jason said. “One of the biggest challenges in the donut industry is how many donuts to make on a certain day and week to week.”
Afternoon and evening, so far, are the only periods the Judds or one of their seven employees is not there on business days. Teresa comes in at 11-11:15 p.m. to set up. Another baker arrives at 1 a.m., she said, as they drop the cake donuts then start a batch of raised dough that requires 40 minutes. As the saying goes: timing is everything.
“There’s never a dull moment . . . Everything is fairly time sensitive,” Jason said. He added that he is more of the logistical half of the partnership while she runs the kitchen.
If you drove from Chadron to Alliance on a Tuesday morning, for example, and bought a chocolate cake donut with chocolate icing at both Daylight Donuts the two would probably be a close match since all locations are required to follow company guidelines and use Daylight ingredients. Conversely, any other food served is not bound by the same rules. “Breakfast and lunch, we can do what we like,” Jason said. Steak burritos are one of their menu items “back by popular demand from the old Daylight Donuts,” he added.
Trends are apparent a quarter after opening the doors. The couple is expanding into the afternoon and would eventually like to offer lunch. Proving some people are serious about donuts, the location’s data shows 65 percent of the people they serve are repeat customers.
Looking ahead, Jason talked about the importance of recycling. “Definitely good for the community,” he emphasized. “(Recycling) keeps Alliance beautiful like the name says, employs people and is just good overall for the planet. This rock has an expiration date.”