Krispy Kreme paired up with McDonald’s last year, offering its famous fresh donuts in around 2,400 McDonald’s locations. Unfortunately, the partnership was short-lived. The companies just issued a joint statement explaining that the partnership deal will end on July 2, 2025.
If you’re curious what led to the big breakup, don’t worry – we have “the tea” and will spill it soon!
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Before we get to the breakup, let’s revisit the short (but sweet!) deal between McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme. The two paired up in 2024, with Krispy Kreme delivering fresh donuts to over 2,400 McDonald’s locations, further adding to McDonald’s menu.
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The donuts offered at these select McDonald’s locations (sold individually and in boxes of six) were:
- Original Glazed® Doughnut (the classic)
- Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles Doughnut
- Chocolate Iced Kreme™ Filled Doughnut
McDonald’s was happy with the deal and had planned to roll out Krispy Kreme in locations nationwide by 2026, but some issues arose for Krispy Kreme…
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In their joint statement with McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme’s CEO states: “Ultimately, efforts to bring our costs in line with unit demand were unsuccessful, making the partnership unsustainable for us.”
McDonald’s also had something to say about the end of the partnership…
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McDonald’s, on the other hand, had been pleased with the partnership. Their Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer states, “We had strong collaboration with Krispy Kreme and they delivered a great, high-quality product for us, and while the partnership met our expectations for McDonald’s and Owner/Operators, this needed to be a profitable business model for Krispy Kreme as well.”
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Other factors likely contributed to the cessation of the partnership between McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme.
McDonald’s has seen reduced traffic to restaurants, reporting their greatest same-store sales decline in quarter 1 of 2025 since 2020 (when people weren’t dining out as often due to the COVID pandemic).
BTW, if you’re curious what “same-store sales” means, here’s a definition: “a figure used to determine what amount of sales growth is attributable to new store openings”.
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Krispy Kreme has faced similar financial woes, with shares dropping 73% this year. In the first quarter of 2025, Krispy Kreme reported a loss of around $33 million. So what happens next for these companies?
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McDonald’s seems largely unaffected since their revenue didn’t seem to be impacted. The joint statement reads, “Krispy Kreme represented a small, non-material part of McDonald’s breakfast business.”
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As for Krispy Kreme, the CEO states, “To drive future sustainable growth, Krispy Kreme is focused on making its fresh doughnuts available in more places…through its two largest opportunities: profitable U.S. expansion through high-volume retail points of distribution and capital-light international franchise growth”.
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McDonald’s had been pleased with its deal with Krispy Kreme and had planned on rolling out Krispy Kreme in McDonald’s locations nationwide by 2026. This might mean that McDonald’s could pair up with another company in the future…but there’s no word on their plans yet.
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Let’s recap all of this relationship drama between McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme.
- The original partnership offered fresh Krispy Kreme donuts in select McDonald’s locations starting in 2024.
- The plan had been to increase the availability of Krispy Kreme in more McDonald’s locations nationwide by 2026.
- Due to issues with cost and revenue for Krispy Kreme, the partnership will end on July 2, 2025.
Now the big question for Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s fans…
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What do you think of the decision to end the partnership? What’s your dream partnership between restaurants? Let me know in the comments!
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