McDonald's will add another sweet treat to its menu offerings by expanding its partnership with Krispy Kreme. It will sell the doughnuts nationwide by 2026.
McDonald’s will begin selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts nationwide by the end of 2026, both chains announced on Tuesday.
Three flavors of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will be delivered to McDonald’s restaurants daily as part of the expanded partnership – the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced "kreme" filled – and will be available individually or in boxes of six. The sweet treats will be sold from breakfast and last throughout the day, while supplies last, the companies said. The phased rollout will begin later this year.
"Significantly, by making Kreme Krispy accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026," Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth said. "The partnership accelerates the development of our existing Delivered Fresh Daily channel, creating operating leverage through distribution density and production utilization."
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The companies tested the concept at 160 McDonald’s restaurants in Kentucky in February 2023.
"The expanded test will help us learn more about operational impact on a larger scale as well as explore customer demand," McDonald’s said at the time.
Krispy Kreme has scaled its supply chain, built a support team and added technology and new equipment to support the expansion, the chains said.
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Shares of Krispy Kreme spiked by as much as 16% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Rival chain Wendy's announced last month that it is partnering with Cinnabon to add an item to its breakfast menu.
The Cinnabon Pull-Apart is described by Wendy's as a sweet treat that "takes the nostalgic, classic cinnamon roll and transforms the ooey-gooey center into bite-sized pieces."
Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner said on an earnings call in February that Wendy’s breakfast daypart "is one of the most compelling levers when considering sales growth and margin acceleration opportunities."
FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report
