Stan’s Donuts Removes Lard From Recipe After Seven Years

ORLAND PARK, IL — Stan's Donuts, a popular Chicago-based doughnut chain, has stopped using lard in its doughnuts, according to founder Rich Labriola. The change comes after years of various groups of people deciding not to eat the doughnuts due to dietary restrictions.

As of mid-December, Labriola said, Stan's has cut the ingredient from the recipe. He told Patch that since the company opened seven years ago, the only doughnuts that ever contained any amount of lard were yeast doughnuts. He said that using lard in yeast doughnuts is a common practice, but this made many people stray from Stan's.

As he has built and expanded the business, Labriola said, people's sense of taste also evolved over time, and the company been working off and on for seven years to change with it. The founder said that as a replacement, Stan's was able to "find the right blend of fats" that could keep a customer from tasting a difference.

"Our main goal starting out was the highest quality yeast doughnut," Labriola said. " We want people to try our yeast doughnuts, and we want them to eat it because it's incredible. ... The fact that we can make it just as incredible without having an ingredient in there, [even though] it's a small percent of the population, we want that small percent to eat those doughnuts. So we want them to enjoy and experience them."

Larbiola also said the doughnuts were never fried in lard, as many people commonly assume. He said the doughnuts are fried in vegetable shortening, making them vegetarian-friendly.

"We're in the business of making people happy," Labriola said. "So [this is] one small thing we could do to make more people happy."

The business offers a variety of doughnuts, from old-fashioned to lemon pistachio. It also offers various kinds of coffee, such as cold brew, iced and hot.

Stan's Donuts & Coffee opened in Orland Park on Dec. 5. The newest location is the second in the franchise to have a drive-thru and the first to open in the southwest suburbs, according to Labriola.

The business owner was joined by staff, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and village trustees to cut the ribbon and officially welcome the business to town. Stan's is now at the former PDQ building at 15646 S. La Grange Road.

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