Dive Brief:
- Krispy Kreme has launched Original Glazed soft serve ice cream available in shakes, cones and cups in 10 U.S. markets, according to a press release. The cities include Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem in North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia.; Charleston, West Virginia; Nashville and the Tri-Cities area in Tennessee; and San Antonio.
- This menu will expand to additional markets in Alabama, Florida, New Orleans, Missouri and Kansas later this summer.
- While Krispy Kreme has offered shakes and ice cream treats in the past, which were added to menus at a redesigned store in Concord, North Carolina, in 2019, this is the first time it’s offered soft-serve ice cream.
Dive Insight:
This menu expansion, especially the addition of milkshakes that are popular when it’s hot outside, could help attract customers into doughnut shops, which typically face dwindling sales during the summer months. While the ice cream treats aren’t available through online ordering, they can be bought at participating shops during operating hours for dine-in, takeout and drive-thru.
Krispy Kreme’s shakes offer a variety of doughnut-inspired flavors, including Original Glazed, Strawberry Iced Sprinkled, Chocolate Iced, Lemon Filled, Cookies & Kreme, Birthday Batter, and Coffee & Kreme. Glazed doughnut pieces are also offered as a topping.
The newest additions could help Krispy Kreme compete against Dunkin’, which has been expanding into nontraditional locations and opening combo stores with sister brand Baskin-Robbins over the past few years. Other chains are also expanding their shake selections with seasonal items, including Shake Shack, Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s.
Krispy Kreme has done well with seasonal and LTO doughnuts, such as its Twix doughnut campaign in the first quarter and cinnamon rolls in the second quarter.
“These are important to our performance not just because of the additional excitement they bring to the brand but because these specialty doughnuts, they are priced at a significant premium to our Original Glazed,” Joshua Charlesworth, Krispy Kreme’s global president and COO, said in May during the company’s earnings call.
Premium products are sometimes priced 50% more per individual original glazed doughnut, and have helped offset inflationary pressures, Michael Tattersfield, president and CEO, said during the company call.
In addition to menu innovations, Krispy Kreme has been working to expand its customer reach, increasing its points of access to 11,000 globally during the first quarter, but offering fresh doughnuts delivered daily at convenience and grocery stores in addition to its traditional locations, executives said during the company’s May earnings call.
