How Angelo Bahu Helped His Family Company Yonutz Go Viral on TikTok
If you're like us and spend hours drooling over the tastiest desserts on TikTok, there's no doubt you've stumbled upon 17-year-old Angelo Bahu and his mouthwatering videos for his family's donut company, Yonutz.
Angelo always knew he wanted to get the social media game, and actually found some success as a singer before realizing what he really wanted to do was help to spread the word about Yonutz. Clearly, it worked, because today, his @yoangelolo page on TikTok has more than 2.6 million followers, where he shows off his latest delicious donut creations, including new takes on the brand's award-winning, ice cream-filled SMASH Donuts. We just had to find out the story behind Angelo and his love for Yonutz, and we got the chance to ask him all about the brand and why it's so special in the interview below.
Sweety High: How did your family get involved in the donut business? Did you always know you wanted to be a part of it?
Angelo Bahu: One of my fondest childhood memories was coming home from kindergarten one day and seeing my mom and dad walk up to me with a bucket full of hot and fresh mini donuts. My parents were so excited to tell me we were now the proud owners of a dessert shop! I was so happy! I went to school the next day and told anyone who would listen all about it! In the following years, I went to work with my mom and dad all the time. During these times, I personally served customers and really enjoyed the business. I realized at a young age that I'd also want to own a business of my own one day. With those aspirations, I stayed involved knowing I would learn as much as I could from my parents in the business.
(Image courtesy of Angelo Bahu)
Eventually, my parents wanted a change and decided to sell their businesses and move to South Florida. After searching, they created the current Yonutz concept. My dad yearned to turn this business into a national franchise. We developed the concept, and then soon after, the SMASH Donut was born. (If you don't know what a SMASH Donut is, it's our award-winning dessert where we take a donut, cut it in half, stuff it with ice cream, and top it with delicious toppings like cookies and cereal! ). With our SMASH Donut, we were able to get a strong following on social media and gained the attention of all the major South Florida food influencers. Throughout all of this, I continued to work at Yonutz as an employee, taking shifts several days a week after school and on weekends. Fast forward to 2020, and through the power of social media, my family's business was able to gain the attention of the original shark from Shark Tank, Kevin Harrington! He was looking for a dessert concept to franchise all over the U.S., and Yonutz was exactly what he was looking for! After that, Yonutz continued to blow up and we sold franchises all over the U.S. That's when I made the decision that I wanted Yonutz to be my full-time job.
(via Yonutz)
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SH: At what point did you realize that TikTok could be an awesome way to get the word out about your family business? From there, how did you make that happen?
AB: One thing anyone who's known me for a long time will tell you is that I've always had a fascination with social media. Ever since I was a kid, I loved everything about that world. I knew at a very young age that I wanted to create a platform of my own and that I wanted my platform to be built on positivity. At 15, during quarantine and after a few Musical.ly, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram pages, I had my first account go viral. It was a music account where I showcased my singing, but as time went on, although I was gaining followers and had great engagement, I decided music was not the route for me. However, I still loved social media and knew that eventually I would find my way back into it.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at that time, but I knew I wanted people to know how much I loved Yonutz, not just because I'm biased, but because they're really amazing! Yonutz has always done well on social media, and I got inspired to try and grow my platform using my family's business and our ability to go viral.
I saw other influencers come to the store and have their posts do extremely well, so I decided it was time for me to give it a try. I started posting content at the store. I hit the sweet spot four days later when I posted a TikTok of me trying to get one of my flavors on the menu. That really started it. I couldn't believe how viral these posts were, and it was so much fun. I honestly was so in love with what I was doing, and glad so many people were enjoying it!
(via Yonutz)
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SH: What have been your most viral videos so far? What do you think it is about your content that has audiences so captivated?
AB: I actually have two different ways to answer that question. My most viral video is actually a customer interaction video with over 37 million views, and consists of me sitting at a table making a TikTok when all of a sudden, two customers come in and call me "cringe." When they did, it definitely rained on my parade, but then my coworker tuned in and explained to her that my TikTok was approaching 2 million followers. In posting that TikTok, I received a lot of people telling me to keep going and to not listen to the haters, and I think that taught not just me, but everyone who saw the video, to just focus on ourselves, and that the haters will only bring more success.
However, my most viral series involves me making flavors based off of characters from my favorite shows and movies, like Stranger Things and Minions. I also have made flavors based off people's zodiac signs, too! Many of these videos have climbed into the tens of millions and I am constantly taking more requests and staying as current and fun as possible!
@yoangelolo Ok but why was Vecna's was lowkey scary🫣😳 #yonutz #strangerthings #strangerthings4 ♬ Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kate Bush
SH: What's your favorite donut in the Yonutz lineup?
AB: My favorite donut at Yonutz is definitely our ice cream-filled SMASH Donut, but if we're talking traditional donuts, then I'd have to say our newest donut, the Cookie Dough Donut. The donuts are filled with edible cookie dough, dipped in chocolate and topped with soft-baked cookies. Oh my goodness, 10 out of 10!
SH: What's next for you and Yonutz?
AB: Well, we are a franchise, and we will have four new locations by the end of 2022 and over 20 by the end of 2023. The more locations that open, the more I get to expand my horizons and meet new people!
SH: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
AB: I just want to make people happy with my TikTok. Yes, it's a business, but at the end of the day, I just enjoy seeing people enjoying it. Thanks for this opportunity!
(via Yonutz)
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