‘My house smells like donuts all the time’: Massachusetts town bothered by Dunkin supplier

A Haverhill, Mass., resident says an overwhelming sweet smell from a Dunkin’ manufacturing plant became so bothersome he raised it at a city council meeting.

Residents of a city in Massachusetts have been so bothered by the overwhelming sweet smell coming from a Dunkin’ donuts manufacturing plant, that they brought it up at a city council meeting.

One of the Haverhill residents complained that the overpowering sweet smell was “distracting” and “heavy” for anyone walking in the area.

“My house smells like donuts all the time, all the time for the last two months,” Sean Wilson, a Haverhill resident, said during the Dec. 16 meeting.

The factory, located on Creek Brook Drive, is the largest bakery for Dunkin’ in all of U.S., according to the Boston Business Journal. The 93,500-square-foot facility serves more than 200 Dunkin’ shops run by Cafua Management Company, who owns the factory that was built in 2025.

JT Couch, a lawyer who represents the company, appeared at the city council meeting to address concerns about the smell coming from the factory and seek permits to store several thousand gallons of shortening oil and diesel fuel in tanks above the ground.

“With the size of the facility, we do take extreme measures to try to limit our air affluence,” Couch said. “Each of the fryers has a dedicated hood system that you would find in a kitchen. The filters within them are changed every 90 days, and a cleaning service comes out every 60 (days) to take care of the actual hoods.”

“We make one million donuts a day,” he added.

Manufacturing begins at 7 a.m. every day of the week and ends at around 1 p.m., Couch told the council. The factory, when fully operational, would be serving around 800 Dunkin’ locations, he added.

According to him, there are no rules being broken, since they operate brand new equipment that is regularly cleaned, and all the regulatory standards are met.

However, Haverhill Coun. Shaun Toohey said another constituent had contacted him and complained about a “carnival smell” that was similar to fried dough. Some of the residents were concerned about the air quality in connection with the smell coming from the plant, he added.

Toohey had first asked for a motion to table the issue, which was later changed to a motion of continuance as the meeting came to close.

The meeting wrapped up with the councillors deciding to arrange for a health inspection of the factory, after which the issue will be revisited in a January meeting.

Couch agreed to present the council with all information and documentation required to check the factory’s effect on the air quality of the surrounding areas.