Doughnut and coffeehouse chain Krispy Kreme and fast-food giant McDonald’s USA have announced the termination of their partnership over profitability concerns.
The decision will take effect from 2 July 2025.
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Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth stated: “Ultimately, efforts to bring our costs in line with unit demand were unsuccessful, making the partnership unsustainable for us.”
The doughnut company is directing its focus towards expanding its US presence through high-volume retail points and growing its international franchise operations in a capital-light manner, making its doughnuts available in more locations.
Krispy Kreme also highlighted that, despite the partnership, its presence was a “small, non-material” part of the fast-food chain’s breakfast offerings.
McDonald’s maintains that breakfast remains a vital component of its business strategy and is aiming to provide customers with “affordable” morning options.
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By GlobalDataMcDonald’s US chief marketing and customer experience officer Alyssa Buetikofer said: “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.”
In March 2024, an agreement was reached to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at McDonald’s fast-food locations starting in the second half of the year. The decision followed a pilot in 160 locations in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky.
As of 30 March 2025, 2,400 McDonald’s restaurants offered its doughnuts.
In August 2024, Krispy Kreme announced an expansion, planning to supply doughnuts to 12,000 McDonald’s locations by the end of 2026, as reported by EconoTimes.
Krispy Kreme then paused the rollout due to concerns over low demand and profitability.
The doughnut chain stated in May 2025 that it is reassessing its rollout schedule as the companies strive to establish a “profitable business model” for both parties, with no new launches expected in the second quarter of 2025.
In the same month, Krispy Kreme revealed that it is facing a class action lawsuit from investors claiming to have been misled about the chain’s halted expansion into McDonald’s restaurants.
The lawsuit alleges that Krispy Kreme did not disclose the decline in demand post-marketing campaign, the lack of profitability from the collaboration and the subsequent halt in expansion.
