About us

A greater purpose than just great tasting doughnuts

The Mermaid Collective exists to nourish community and connection through handcrafted doughnuts and bold, women-centric energy. More than a bakery, we’re creating a space where stories are shared, dreams are supported, and magic happens one gathering and doughnut at a time.

Future home of The Collective on Elliot Street in Brattleboro

Handcrafted promise

Our doughnuts are always made fresh and handcrafted from scratch. We pride ourselves in our small-batch, fryer-to-fulfillment process. That means each dough is always made fresh — no freezers, no pre-made mixes.

Quality ingredients

We use real ingredients and source from local producers when possible (King Arthur flour, Cabot butter, Miller Farm milk, blueberries hand-picked from Green Mountain Orchards, apples from Scott Farm Orchard).

No artificial colors will ever be used in the dough, glazes or icing.

There will always be a vegan doughnut option, however, there is only one fryer, so the oil is shared.

The Collective’s mission

The pop-ups are a precursor to the official Mermaid Collective, which has a bigger purpose than just great tasting doughnuts!

The Mermaid Collective aims to empower women by providing a supportive community in an inclusive and welcoming professional kitchen and retail shop. The Collective is a tool to personal and economic development, providing a safe environment to learn the art of baking as well as retail skills.

Gourmet doughnuts are the obvious product of the Collective, the unseen products include:

Fair wages
Job training and skill building
Inclusive and safe work environment
Possibility for job sharing and cooperative childcare

Sustainability

We strive to practice and illustrate principles of sustainability (social, environmental, economic) throughout the entire process from deconstruction, design, renovation and operation. Those principles emanate from the Doughnut Economics Action Lab developed by Kate Raworth whose framework seeks A Safe and Just Space for Humanity Through a Distributive and Regenerative Economy by meeting Social Foundations while not exceeding Ecological Ceiling at the Global and Local scales. In order to accomplish such outcomes we will deploy the key sustainability competencies of systems thinking, futures thinking, strategic thinking, values thinking and collaboration.

Building history

Given the history of the building, we think it is important to recognize the myriad roles and ways that the building has hosted a range of community-oriented, inclusive and safe spaces. We endeavor to recognize, continue and expand that tradition. Stay tuned to learn more.