Newcastle bakery DoughHeads has secured five medals at the 2026 Sydney Royal Professional Bakery Competition, held on 6 August during the Fine Food Australia Show. The awards were led by a Gold Award for its Salted Caramel doughnut, which achieved 91.5 points to take out the highest score in its class.
The competition outcomes included:
- Gold Award: Salted Caramel (91.5 points, class highest).
- Silver Awards: Pump Up the Jam, Original Glaze.
- Bronze Awards: Nutella, Gaytime.
The pastry team is led by Head Pastry Chef Kallan Bragg, who oversees recipe development, dough fermentation, glazes and flavour profiles across the firm’s brioche range. The Sydney medals follow previous competition success earlier in 2026 at the National Donut Awards, where DoughHeads took first place in the Gourmet category for its Nutella Pop Tart and first place in the Cinnamon Ring category.
Owners Shannon and Matt Mors acquired DoughHeads in December 2025, maintaining retail operations from the firm’s storefront in The Junction.
Co-owner of DoughHeads, Shannon Mors stated that independent judging validates the technical standards set within their production kitchen.
“We’re so proud of these results, particularly seeing our Salted Caramel take out Gold and top its class,” Shannon said.
“Kallan is incredibly passionate about what he does and sets a really high standard in our kitchen. These awards are a fantastic recognition of his talent, as well as the hard work of our entire pastry team. To have five of our doughnuts recognised by industry judges is a huge achievement. We’ve always known how great these doughnuts are, but there’s something pretty special about putting them in front of independent judges and having them agree. DoughHeads has a loyal following in Newcastle, and these awards belong to Kal, our team and the customers who continue to support us.”
DoughHeads continues to operate from 17a/204 Union Street, The Junction, distributing its core menu and monthly rotational specials across Newcastle.
IMAGE | DoughHeads secures five medals at Sydney Royal Professional Bakery Competition
