McDonald's, Krispy Kreme end partnership: What it means for doughnut lovers

No more McDoughnuts? McDonald's and Krispy Kreme said Tuesday they are ending partnership on July 2, a little more than a year after it was announced. According to a press release, the doughnut chain and home of the Big Mac "jointly decided to end their partnership." McDonald's and Krispy Kreme executives added that the business model "needed to be profitable" for the bakery chain but ended up being "unsustainable."

Krispy Kreme said it will no longer sell its doughnuts at McDonald’s restaurants after the partnership failed to deliver cost-effective results for the doughnut maker. "Ultimately, efforts to bring our costs in line with unit demand were unsuccessful, making the partnership unsustainable for us," Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth said in a statement, according to Fox News.

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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," Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s USA’s chief marketing and customer experience officer, said in a statement.

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.

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“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. groceries and other high-volume retailers.

(With AP inputs)