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Biltong Doughnut Anyone? Krispy Kreme Launching In South Africa

Biltong Doughnut Anyone? Krispy Kreme Launching In South Africa

U.S. doughnut franchise Krispy Kreme plans to launch in Africa this year in partnership with a local company, and the goal is to open 31 stores in South Africa within five years.

The local company, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts SA, is owned by John & Gerry’s Brands and Fournews, which own the News Café, Café Fino, Smooch, Moyo and illy GO! brands, DestinyConnect reports.

“With our 15 years of experience in the industry and our joint venture with Fournews we are extremely proud to bring this iconic brand that is Krispy Kreme into the South African market,” KK Doughnuts SA CEO Gerry Thomas said in a statement.

Krispy Kreme operates 1,000 stores in 24 countries around the world and includes a wide range of doughnuts including doughnut holes, doughnut pops and yeast-raised doughnuts.

The company started in 1937 selling only hot glazed doughnuts, and that recipe has not changed since day one, according to CelebrityCafe. Now there are about 24 different doughnut flavors. In the U.S., they’re sold in Walmart, Target and convenience stores as well as the fascinating franchise stores where you can watch the little calorie balls plop off the assembly line and gobble them up while they’re still warm and dripping glaze.

The original glazed doughnut is still the most popular, according to  CelebrityCafe, but runners up include glazed doughnuts with kreme filling, cinnamon-apple filled and chocolate iced with kreme filling,

Krispy Kreme Senior Vice President Dean Beem said in a statement he was confident the franchise would become an established “premier sweet treats” brand in South Africa.

But like all sure things, success is not guaranteed. There have been mistakes in the past, for example Krispy Kreme Australia — one of the company’s first forays into the international market. They followed the U.S. model — big footprint, drive-thrus — and it didn’t work there.

“You can’t do that,” Thomas said in a BusinessDayTV interview. “Each market has its own nuances.” Thomas said over the last few years there’s been a new management at Krispy Kreme that’s young, vibrant, and understands that.

Krispy Kreme’s international growth has been phenomenal, Thomas said. Only 300 of the company’s 1000 stores are in the U.S.

Krispy Kreme South Africa will not have drive thrus. “We’re going to follow the European format (and put the stores) in malls.”

The company expects to generate 400-to-500 jobs in the next five years.

Thomas tried to divert the BusinessDayTV interview away from the issue of obesity, saying a visit to the store is reserved for special occasions. “Krispy Kreme is more than doughnuts,” he said. “It’s coffee too and beverages. (Buying doughnuts) is not something you do every day.” However he admitted that the U.S. has a “doughnut culture” so it’s possible people there do frequent Krispy Kreme every day. “We have to create that culture (in South Africa),” he said.

Pricing will be less than 100 rand ($8.27 US) for a dozen doughnuts, Thomas told BusinessDayTV. (In the U.S., a dozen glazed doughnuts in the Tampa Bay area franchise go for $8.29.) “We’re playing in a very competitive space,” Thomas said.

Krispy Kreme South Africa will start with 16 flavors including its top 10 sellers in world, “plus six we believe will be unique to the South Africa offering,” Thomas said.