Keith and Jessa Bedford started The Little Donut Bakery in 2019. Jessa’s grandparents, Eldred and Rosella Johnson, first brought mini donuts to western Canada in 1968 as a franchise of Tom Thumb Donuts, a mini donut business in Minnesota that currently operates today. With the iconic machine developed from World War II airplane parts in the late 1940s, they established themselves on the main fair route in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, and Vancouver. Their sons, Jerry, Steven, and Glen, helped from the early days through the early 1980s.

Steven and Annette took over the business in 1984 when Eldred and Rosella retired. They ended the Tom Thumb franchise agreement and started Those Little Donuts, growing the business from the 1980s and to 2009. Their daughter, Jessa, was born and raised in the business, and worked each summer in service, management, and administration. Keith joined the business as a teenager in 1992, and worked his way up to management. In 2009, Steven and Annette were in a severe car accident, forcing the family to retire by selling TLD completely to a new owner in 2012.

Keith and Jessa, married since 2012, pursued other careers in Alberta but missed the business and the fair industry immensely and realized their true passion was the family’s donut legacy. With invaluable help from the Johnson family, they opted for a fresh start with The Little Donut Bakery in 2019, fusing trusted experience with new trailers, new donut machines, and new favourite twists on classic mini donuts.