No more McDoughnuts: McDonald's and Krispy Kreme end partnership

Key Points

• McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme will end their U.S. partnership on July 2, just over a year after its launch.
• Demand for doughnuts at McDonald’s proved too weak to cover costs, leading Krispy Kreme to conclude the venture wasn’t profitable after selling in only about 2,400 of 14,000 locations.
• The deal, announced in March 2024 after a pilot in Kentucky, originally aimed to roll out three doughnut varieties nationwide by the end of 2026.
• Krispy Kreme will continue offering its doughnuts through grocery stores and other high-volume retailers despite ending the McDonald’s partnership.

There will soon be a doughnut-sized hole in McDonald’s U.S. menu.

McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme said Tuesday that they're ending their partnership on July 2, a little more than a year after it was announced. Krispy Kreme said demand for its doughnuts at McDonald's wasn’t strong enough to recoup its costs.

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.

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,” 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.