Doughnut shop turns over a new leaf

Cambelle Cook

The Post

June 11, 2025

BRUCE MACKAY / Laura Reinisch is the owner of Vonuts, a plant-based doughnut shop.

Laura Reinisch is on a mission to prove sweet vegan food is also delicious.

She is the owner and founder of Vonuts, a bakery specialising in plant-based doughnuts, which celebrated the opening of a new store on Willis St on the weekend.

Reinisch was amazed at the turnout for the “big and overwhelming” grand opening event at Willis St Village, which featured new flavours, spot prizes and a DJ.

“It was chaotic on our side, but I think it was fine for the customers. It’s hard to gauge when you’re behind the counter, but there was a line reaching out to the front of the shop next door, so that was pretty awesome.”

Her motivation for opening the new store is family.

“All of this is based on my great aunt and my grandma, who have just passed away recently, so that has been a huge motivator for me to get this running.”

Reinisch is originally from a small town in Germany, but moved to New Zealand with her partner in 2019.

BRUCE MACKAY / Vonuts is situated in the Willis St Village.

While opening the Willis St, she also threw her daughter’s 4th birthday party.

“I’ve got an extremely supportive partner. We both don’t have any whānau here in Wellington, so that’s been an extra challenge on top of it … but we make it work, we’re supporting each other.”

Although the menu is vegan, Reinisch is conscious of the misconceptions surrounding plant-based food.

“We just did a rebrand with our old logo. It had a leaf on it and said ‘plant-based donuts’ ... and I had a considerable amount of people who wanted to try a doughnut. But then they saw it was vegan and were like ‘oh no, never mind, I’m good’.”

But she is on a mission to prove them wrong.

“I just want people to give it a try. If you don’t like it, all good. I’m not offended. But don’t be scared off by the word ‘vegan’ or plant-based’. That’s the whole goal of my business, changing people’s minds that vegan food can be delicious.”

The café was previously located at Press Hall, also on Willis St, but Reinisch decided to move as the no competition rules were too restrictive.

“We couldn’t have all the offerings we would have liked, so we couldn’t do barista coffee. For us, serving excellent coffee with excellent doughnuts was always our vision.”

She also wanted a location with more visibility and accessibility.

“Everyone’s welcome, no matter what walk of life, what age, or whatever … we just want to have a space where people can relax.”