Krispy Kreme is striving for growth in 2024 with new formats, more rewards, and unusual partnerships on the horizon for the doughnut specialist.
Speaking with British Baker at the business’ new store on London’s Oxford Street, Jamie Dunning, president and managing director for the UK and Ireland, outlined how he was going to achieve this.
The new site plays an important role in this as it helps raise awareness of the brand at its best.
“It is as much as a brand halo and physically immersive brand exercise as it is a commercial enterprise,” Dunning explained. Leaning into the experiential side, the site even features a dedicated influencer content studio called the ‘Doughnut Room’.
Unlike many of the other Krispy Kreme locations (with the exception of the seven other Hot Light stores across the UK), the Original Glazed doughnuts are made on site at the Oxford Street store allowing them to be served up still warm to customers, signalled by the glowing ‘Hot Now’ sign. Other doughnuts available are delivered from the firm’s manufacturing sites.
“Krispy Kreme is known by about 90% of the population and we’re currently accessible by about half but only 2% of the population know Krispy Kreme at its best, which is a hot, fresh doughnut off the line. This is without a doubt our greatest point of differentiation,” Dunning explained. “The job of Oxford Street is to raise awareness and create those memories and, as a format, potentially be a city centre solution for hot Original Glazed that we can take to other metropolises.”
Convenience
Convenience stores are another market Krispy Kreme is targeting as part of its mission to put its doughnuts in the hands of more consumers.
“We’re in some of the city centre expresses already but that’s almost an extension of our supermarket stores with the volumes they do,” Dunning said, noting that although volumes are lower in typical suburban convenience stores, there is still demand for sweet treats as part of the top-up shopping mission. The firm’s hub and spoke logistics operation had limited its access to this market but “now we’ve worked that out, it opens more doors for us to be even more accessible”.
Krispy Kreme has created a new cabinet for the c-store market, which “presents the doughnuts every bit as beautifully as our other options”. “It still creates a sense of abundance, but because of the lower volumes, it holds less doughnuts which means we don’t create a waste problem,” he added. There are 10 in trial at present with plans for over 100 later this year.
“What has really become apparent is shopping missions and associated occasions are somewhat more evident in people’s buying behaviours now,” Dunning added. “We’re very available if you’re pushing a big trolley around the supermarket, but we’re not that available if you’re just topping up.”
Krispy Kreme is also looking to make itself more available in travel locations with Stanstead, Gatwick, Waterloo, and Luton among recent openings in this arena.
Partnerships
Partnerships “in the broadest sense” are a big feature of Dunning’s plans for 2024, particularly when it comes to doughnut collaborations with food and non-food brands.
“Whilst we were pleased with our limited editions this year, we felt that there were times that we could have been bolder with who we partnered with to bring other interests in,” he said. “We bring their fans to us, create unique doughnuts that interest them and also invite them to join our club. That’s a big feature of this year.
“When those social media partners play out, if it has the response I want it to have, people will say ‘I would never have thought Krispy Kreme would go down that line’,” Dunning explained.
The first example of this was revealed today (11 March) as Krispy Kreme unveiled a limited-edition range with online women’s fashion brand PrettyLittleThing. Available for nationwide delivery, complete with bespoke pink packaging, the range comprises a trio of doughnuts designed to ‘glam up’ snack time. It includes the Pretty Little Sprinkle (dipped in strawberry icing finished with unicorn sprinkles), the Pretty Little Doughnut (filled with strawberry jam and topped with a white chocolate coating and a hand-piped floral design), and the Pretty Little Unicorn (dipped in strawberry icing and sprinkles, finished with purple frosting and a unicorn horn).
“The brand is finding its way with very authentic content,” he added. “[Krispy Kreme] doesn’t have to work too hard with people sharing their experiences, so we just need to keep nudging that along.”
It’s not all about Gen Z on TikTok though – Dunning wants to continue to ensure the joyful experience is delivered in store for customers of all ages. The rewards programme plays a part in this, as does the “Krispy Kremers”, who are delivering that experience in store.
When asked what progress he would like to see in six months’ time, Dunning concluded: “Our commitment is to build towards growth for now and for better days, and we’re not holding back. We’ll be a lot more available by the end of this year than we were at the beginning of it.”
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