A few years ago, Krispy Kreme donut franchises became quite the rage. The white buildings with the flashing neon “open” sign were opening up at a startling pace. Having spent some of my formative years in the south, it was a welcoming, if nostalgic, sight. If you thought it seemed to be happening too fast, you were right. For reasons we won’t go into here, problems escalated for the brand and many didn’t survive the fall. However, Kripsy Kreme donuts are still more prevalent in the mass marketplace than ever. They are in convenience stores, as well as major grocery chains all over the country, where once it was predominantly a southern phenomenon.
Unlike Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts have been on the national scene for quite some time. And maybe that’s why it was easier to take them for granted. They just didn’t seem quite as esoteric as the regional-flavored Krispy Kreme. Dunkin’ Donuts lost quite a bit of buzz and headline space to Krispy Kreme during the Krispy Kreme expansion era, but they may be poised to take some of that back.
In a taste test, I have always found Dunkin’ Donuts to serve up a much more reliable donut than Krispy Kreme. While it’s true, if you see the “hot” sign at the Krispy Kreme, the fresh glazed are very, very good. But, when they’re not hot, well….they’re not so hot. The same can be said for the other kinds of donuts that populate their shelves.
Of course, any donut is better fresh than one that has been sitting around all morning, but the Dunkin’ Donuts glazed, as well as their other donuts, get older much more gracefully. There is a large difference in the texture of the competing donuts, once they’ve been sitting around a while. The Dunkin’ Donuts donut managed to retain a pleasant and “fresh” texture. The same couldn’t be said for their Krispy Kreme counterparts.
The ball is now in your court. Please let Consumer Obsession know your opinions on these donut heavyweights.
Tags: consumer obsession, donut, donuts, dunkin' donuts, krispy kreme
I’m shocked that there are no KK left in Charlotte. I remember the old, original KK on Independence Blvd. so well. Plus, you would always see them in the old Winn Dixie stores.
I was born in the South but grew up in the North, so I have lived in areas that were dominated by either of the two chains. I tend to agree with Steve. Nothing is better than a hot KK glazed donut but I find that overall KK has a big issue with consistency. While their growth was amazing, they shot themselves in the foot by expanding into every gas station, convenience store, and grocery store they could get into. The donuts at these places tend to be not the freshest in the world, which hurt their image. They also expanding into new KK stores that instead of cooking the donut from start to finish, instead brought in donuts that were partially-cooked and finished the cooking process at the store (these donuts tended to not have the most-fresh texture to them).
Though DD doesn’t have a highly-touted glaze donut, their donuts overall (I think) represent more of a true classic donut. More of a cake donut and slightly denser than a KK. I think their variety is also better than KK with more filling flavors and various icing-toppings. I have never had a freshness issue with a DD.
It’s interesting to note that at the present time, there is not a single KK store in Charlotte. This is an area that for years always had at least three locations.
I give the edge to Dunkin’ Donuts, but with some reservations. Dunkin’ Donuts cake donuts and coffee are superb but they do not have a particularly good glazed donut Krispy Kreme’s yeast based doughnuts are excellent, while their cake doughnuts and coffee are really weak.