Starbucks' yeast helps Top Pot rise across West

Starbucks' affinity for Top Pot Doughnuts has pushed the sugary disks far beyond their Seattle roots.

In April, the doughnuts will debut in Oklahoma and Texas, extending their reach to about 2,500 Starbucks stores in 14 states.

Top Pot's doughnuts are among the select few sweets Starbucks labels in its pastry cases, which has built brand recognition for the three-store Seattle chain that hopes to expand beyond Washington.

Mark Klebeck, who founded Top Pot in 2002 with his brother Michael and another partner, Joel Radin, said he would like to open a Top Pot store in San Francisco within the next year.

"Starbucks has definitely paved the way for us," said Klebeck, who credits the Seattle coffee chain for helping it grow from eight employees in early 2002 to about 120 now.

"They've made us a better company and mentored us along the way," he said, pointing to Starbucks' help with everything from social responsibility to choosing ingredients.

Last year, Top Pot switched from hydrogenated oils to palm oil for frying largely because Starbucks wanted to eliminate the trans fats in its baked goods.

"It was a little daunting at first, but once we started taste-testing," Klebeck said, "it became apparent that we were landing on something that was great."

Outside Western Washington, Top Pot partners with other bakeries, some of which had previously made doughnuts for Starbucks.

Top Pot provides the ingredients and has quality-control people making sure the product is up to its standards.

For a five-year-old company, Top Pot has more than its share of lore.

There's the story about its name: For years, the Klebeck brothers stored a sign for an old Chinese restaurant called "Top Spot" in their mother's backyard.

Around the same time she became fed up with the ivy, raccoons and squirrels it attracted, they were looking for a name and a sign for their new doughnut shop on Capitol Hill.

As they carted the sign along Interstate 5, "S" blew off and was crushed by a Mack truck.

That's how Top Pot got its name.

Then there's the tale of Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz discovering the place: Shortly after Top Pot opened its Fifth Avenue store in 2003, Schultz came in for a dozen.

"We were flattered when we heard he'd been in but we never thought beyond that," Mark Klebeck said.

Then Schultz returned, asking to sit down and talk about putting their doughnuts in his stores.

Top Pot doughnuts arrived in Starbucks' pastry cases in early 2005. Over the past two years, Klebeck said, "our growth has been phenomenal."

He declines to give sales or growth figures, but Top Pot's steady march across the West is an indication of how fast it's running.

The doughnuts are sold mostly in stores owned by Starbucks; customers don't often find them in licensed Starbucks locations at places like grocery stores or airports.

Beginning in January 2005, Top Pot sold doughnuts at 268 Starbucks locations in Western Washington. That summer, it expanded into Eastern Washington, northern Idaho and Alaska.

In January 2006, it started selling doughnuts in Starbucks' Oregon and southern Idaho stores.

Then came the big Rocky Mountain push in May 2006, when it added seven states: Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

In January 2007, Top Pot doughnuts became available at 800 Starbucks stores in Northern California, and now they are moving into Oklahoma and Texas.

Top Pot's owners aren't worried about the prospect of heading further east with Starbucks, into Dunkin' Donuts territory.

"We're a different doughnut altogether," Klebeck said.

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com