17 Facts About Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme, Inc is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain.

Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph, who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans chef, rented a building in 1937 in what is historic Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and began selling to local grocery stores.

The Krispy Kreme logo was designed by Benny Dinkins, a local architect.

Krispy Kreme began another phase of rapid expansion in the 1990s, opening stores outside the southeastern United States where most of their stores were located.

In December 2001, Krispy Kreme opened its first store outside the US in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Related searches

Krispy Kreme had supermarkets and gas stations carry their donuts, which soon contributed up to half of the chain's sales, creating further market saturation as well as increasing competition to its franchisees.

Krispy Kreme has been accused of channel stuffing by franchisees, whose stores reportedly "received twice their regular shipments in the final weeks of a quarter so that headquarters could make its numbers".

Krispy Kreme was dogged by questionable transactions and self-dealing accusations over the buybacks of franchisees, including those operated by company insiders.

In December 2017, Krispy Kreme moved its corporate operations to Charlotte, North Carolina; while Winston-Salem will retain the World Headquarters and maintain the Krispy Kreme Support Center.

Also in 2010, Krispy Kreme Express, a delivery service for businesses, began testing at the Battleground Avenue location in Greensboro, North Carolina.

In 2018, Krispy Kreme acquired bakery chain Insomnia Cookies, which continues to operate independently.

In May 2021, Krispy Kreme confidentially filed for an initial public offering to go public.

Besides the stores that Krispy Kreme operate in the United States and Canada, there are locations in Egypt, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Colombia and Ethiopia.

In October 2014, Krispy Kreme opened another store at Colombia in Bogota and Chia, Cundinamarca.

The Cheerwine Krispy Kreme doughnut returned for July 2011 and made its debut in Tennessee and Roanoke, Virginia.

In July 2020, Krispy Kreme launched several candy-coated donuts with Nerds, Jelly Belly jelly beans, sour gummies, and marshmallows.

In March 2021, Krispy Kreme announced that they were providing a free Original Glazed doughnut every day for the rest of that year to customers in the US who could prove they have received a COVID-19 vaccine.