Indulge by Palazzo finds area of interest for well being nuts in search of a deal with – Hartford Courant

Wethersfield — Nicole Palazzo started her business somewhat as a response to the pandemic, and has found a niche with people who try to stay healthy but see the value in sometimes indulging their sweet tooth.

Indulge by Palazzo opened in February of 2021, at a time when people were venturing out more, and were excited and happy to see a new business in town.

Palazzo worked in the fitness industry for a decade, including as a manager of The Edge fitness clubs. During the height of the pandemic, she was making protein doughnuts at home, and serving them to her personal training clients. Coming from a family who owns the Elmwood Pastry shop in West Hartford, Palazzo also had a little background in baking.

“I used to help on my day off, and I decorated the doughnuts there,” she said. “So, I put two and two together, the protein and the doughnuts.”

Indulge serves mini-doughnuts (protein and non-protein), hot coffee, iced coffee, protein shakes, and protein iced coffee. Much of the business is catering special events, including birthday parties and weddings, and it also has a trailer for traveling to large events like food truck festivals and farmers markets.

“We keep it pretty simple,” she said. “We have a lot of events and a lot of orders. The mini-doughnuts, people love, because they’re bite-sized and easy to share. You can try several different flavors, and they’re easy for things like office parties. A lot of sales reps come in and bring them to their clients. They’re a great ice-breaker. People love talking about them.”

The doughnuts are a little more healthy than those found elsewhere. All of the mini-doughnuts are baked, not fried.

“They are a little different, in that sense,” Palazzo said. “You’re eliminating all that grease. It’s also to indulge in something small, while staying on your weight loss goals. It’s actually better to eat them in moderation than to eliminate it all, only to go back to it.”

The 600-square-foot shop at 933 Silas Deane Highway is welcoming and inviting, and allows for visitors to perhaps catch a glimpse of the doughnuts being made.

“We’re very family-friendly,” she said. “A lot of people bring their kids in before school. On the weekends, they have soccer games or baseball games, and come in afterward for a treat.”

Word-of-mouth and social media have been the most effective advertising, Palazzo said, adding that her mother and two brothers, who work in the Wethersfield school system, spread the word to a lot of people.

“We know a ton of people, and try to network. I try to network with other small businesses, and get out in the community as much as we can,” she said. “Word of mouth has been our biggest help. Being on this busy road has been great. We’ve been focusing on social media. In the beginning, that was huge. People take pictures of our boxes of doughnuts and the different flavors that we have. The protein ones, gym people love to eat. So, they’ll take a picture of their protein doughnuts and blast it on their social media. I think the best kind of marketing you can do is that genuine, authentic, ‘I came in because my friend told me it was great.’”

Future plans could involved expanding the menu, but that would probably go hand-in-hand with a larger location.

“Right now, we can’t expand too much, in terms of items,” she said. “I believe the next step would be to get a larger space, to increase our menu items,” she said. “Who knows? Down the road, we might open more locations.”

For more information, visit https://www.indulgebypalazzo.com/.