There will soon be a doughnut-sized hole in McDonald’s U.S. menu.
McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme said Tuesday that they’re ending their partnership July 2, a little more than a year after it was announced. Krispy Kreme said demand for its doughnuts at McDonald’s wasn’t strong enough to recoup its costs.
Chicago-based McDonald’s announced in March 2024 that it would begin selling three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts at participating locations after a successful pilot in Kentucky. The doughnuts were sold individually or in boxes of six.
The companies planned a phased rollout that would bring doughnuts to McDonald’s nationwide by the end of 2026. At the time, Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth said the partnership would give customers “unprecedented daily access” to Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts.
But the companies decided to call it quits after introducing doughnuts in just 2,400 of McDonald’s nearly 14,000 U.S. stores.
“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,” said Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s chief marketing and customer experience officer in the U.S., said in a statement.
Charlesworth said Charlotte, North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme will continue to offer its doughnuts at U.S. grocery stores and other high-volume retailers.