McDonald’s And Krispy Kreme Team Up With A Sweet Collaboration
There's a new franchise collaboration on the block, and one that could make breakfast a much sweeter fare for fans of both burger giant McDonald's and home of the famous glazed doughnut, Krispy Kreme.
This week the two franchise brands issued a joint statement confirming that, following a successful pilot at 160 McDonald's restaurants in the Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky areas, they will start a phased national rollout of a selected range of three of Krispy Kreme's most popular doughnuts in participating McDonald's locations across the U.S. The rollout is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Collaborations between franchise brands within the food industry aren't uncommon and, as with any great partnership, pick the right person to team up with and such a joint venture really can reap rewards. Strong brand partnerships can help both parties to gain increased exposure, to attract new audiences and generate new ideas. But equally they also inevitably involve an element of risk, the possibility of alienating hardcore fans and potentially diluting brand identity.
From an outside perspective, it would certainly appear to be the case that Krispy Kreme will be the brand most likely to reap immediate rewards from the collaboration between these two franchise famous names. In terms of own-name locations, McDonald's far outstrips the doughnut chain when it comes to the numbers game - there are approximately 13,500 McDonald's in the U.S. and 95% of these are owned by franchisees who will decide whether to offer the new baked products in their own outlets. In comparison, there are less than 400 Krispy Kreme U.S. units, although the donuts are also currently sold through a variety of nearly 7000 third party outlets. The partnership will allow the doughnut franchise to significantly increase their reach, although with that comes the challenge of ensuring their supply chain and logistics can meet and maintain pace with the demand, hence the phased two-and-a-half year rollout plan.
“Significantly, by making Kreme Krispy accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026. The partnership accelerates the development of our existing Delivered Fresh Daily channel, creating operating leverage through distribution density and production utilization” said Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth.
On the flip side, the deal will see McDonald's acquire the exclusive right to supply Krispy Kreme donuts in fast-food outlets and provides the burger giant with some fresh content for its menu, particularly at breakfast time when it faces huge competition from other coffee and bakery brands in what is an extremely busy market. Krispy Kreme also attracts a different demographic to the home of Ronald McDonald - customers with a higher disposable income to spend on treats, and a slight lean towards a female-focused audience - and McDonald's will no doubt be looking to drive those doughnut aficionados into their restaurants at a time when they have been facing criticism over increased menu prices.
On Tuesday afternoon, after the joint statement was made, shares of Krispy Kreme leapt by 29%, whilst McDonald's share prices remained relatively unchanged. And as the doughnut franchise chain celebrated it's new venture with a big giveaway on the day of the announcement, it will be interesting to see if this new collaboration provides both brands with the sweet taste of success.
