Louisville McDonald's to start selling Krispy Kreme donuts

A rare fast food experiment will be conducted in Kentucky to see if it's worthy of a nationwide release.

McDonald’s customers in the Louisville area will soon find something they wouldn't expect: Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

The burger giant on Tuesday said that it will start selling three varieties of Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine locations in the market in a limited-time test of the concept.

McDonald’s will sell Krispy Kreme’s glazed, chocolate iced and raspberry filled doughnut. The doughnuts will be available all day individually or in six-packs starting Oct. 26.

McDonald’s will not be making the doughnuts. Rather, Krispy Kreme will make the doughnuts at one of its large doughnut-making shops and will deliver them daily to those locations.  

According to Restaurant Business Magazine, Krispy Kreme currently makes doughnuts at 245 large retail shops in the U.S. and Canada. It uses those shops to supply more than 5,500 kiosks inside grocers and other retailers. Their goal is 10,000 points of sale. A partnership with McDonald's could mean access to up to 13,000 restaurants nationwide.

McDonald’s has been pushing more into sweet treats as companions to its coffee beverages. For instance, it added an apple fritter, blueberry muffin and cinnamon roll to its menu in 2020.

McDonald’s generally does not sell other brands’ items inside its restaurants outside of beverages. For instance, its McPlant burger does not feature the name of Beyond Meat, even as its competitors have branded their plant-based burgers with one of the fake meat making companies’ names.


(Photo: Krispy Kreme)