McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme are officially ending their partnership.

This means McDonald’s will stop selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts in its restaurants starting July 2, 2025.

Both companies are returning to their core strategies—McDonald’s will focus on offering affordable, fast meals, while Krispy Kreme will concentrate on retail expansion and international growth.

So what went wrong with a deal that once seemed like a win-win? Let’s find out.

How the Partnership Began

The idea began as a test in 2022 when about 160 McDonald’s locations in Kentucky started selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

It went well at first, so in March 2024, the two companies expanded the program to 2,400 McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S.

The goal was to eventually have Krispy Kreme doughnuts in all 14,000+ McDonald’s locations nationwide by the end of 2026.

🧭 Timeline of the McDonald’s–Krispy Kreme Partnership

Why The McDonald’s–Krispy Kreme Partnership Is Ending

Even though the idea was popular at first, the costs became too high for Krispy Kreme. Here’s what happened:

• Krispy Kreme said they didn’t see enough long-term profit from the deal. The sales weren’t strong enough to support the extra production and delivery costs.
• Delivering fresh doughnuts daily to thousands of McDonald’s locations proved to be too expensive.
• As a result, Krispy Kreme announced that they would no longer continue the partnership.

McDonald’s, on the other hand, said they liked the customer response and the quality of the doughnuts—but they respected Krispy Kreme’s decision to pull back for financial reasons.

📉 Business Effects

1. After this change, Krispy Kreme had to lower its financial expectations for the year.
2. Its stock dropped sharply—by about 24% to 74%—after the announcement, showing that investors were disappointed.
3. Krispy Kreme is now rethinking how it grows in the future and says it will focus more on:
   • Selling doughnuts in grocery stores
   • Growing internationally using a franchise model (letting others run stores under their brand)

For McDonald’s, the impact is smaller. The company said that doughnuts were just a small part of their breakfast menu, and it plans to focus more on its main menu, especially affordable items like coffee and breakfast sandwiches.

📑 Key Quotes & Statements

Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth (paraphrased):

The McDonald’s partnership didn’t deliver the profits we needed. It was too expensive to supply doughnuts daily to thousands of locations.

Krispy Kreme Official Statement:

We remain confident in our long-term strategy focused on growing through grocery stores, international franchises, and owned shops.

McDonald’s Response (paraphrased):

We appreciated the collaboration with Krispy Kreme. Although it’s ending, we’re committed to offering great breakfast options.

🍩 What This Means for Customers

• After July 2, 2025, Krispy Kreme doughnuts will no longer be sold in McDonald’s restaurants.
• Customers who liked getting doughnuts with their coffee or breakfast will have to go back to buying them directly from Krispy Kreme stores or other retailers.

🍔 What This Means for Fast-Food Partnerships

This case shows both the promise and challenges of big-brand collaborations:

Things That Worked:

• The idea created excitement among customers and gave McDonald’s a fun new breakfast item.
• Krispy Kreme saw a temporary boost in visibility and sales.

Things That Didn’t Work:

• Daily delivery of fresh doughnuts to thousands of locations was logistically difficult and expensive.
• The profits didn’t match the effort for Krispy Kreme, leading to the end of the deal.

📜 Summary

This partnership was an exciting idea: McDonald’s wanted to expand its breakfast options, and Krispy Kreme saw a chance to grow its reach. But the cost of delivering fresh doughnuts every day to so many restaurants turned out to be too much.

So, both companies are going back to their main business strategies—McDonald’s will focus on affordable, fast meals, and Krispy Kreme will push retail and international growth.