UK food and drink news
Customers visiting Krispy Kreme’s new ‘Hot Light’ store on London’s Oxford Street can enjoy their famous glazed donuts piping hot, in a first for the business that could be replicated in other major cities across the UK. Now you can enjoy freshly baked donuts all day long.
In an interview with The Retail Bulletin, Jamie Dunning, MD of Krispy Kreme UK and Ireland, said in an interview with The Retail Bulletin that in the post-COVID-19 environment, brands such as Greggs, Tesco, Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons will continue to grow, from boutique super-premium brands to brands such as Greggs, Tesco, Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons. He said this is related to the intensifying competition. Mainstream. And now comes the news that iconic Los Angeles brand Randy’s Donuts is coming to the UK.
untouchable suggestion
Krispy Kreme has had to deal with this influx, and the new stores provide something of a “kicker” for the brand, according to Dunning. “The idea of being fresh and open all day is untouchable.”
He’s drawing on some of the skills he gained from his previous role at Mars at M&M’s Retail, where immersive retail is taking place on Oxford Street through a donut production line with a full view of customers through a glass screen . The process of shaping the dough and frying it before coating it with sugar or glaze is reminiscent of the sights of many seaside towns, but in contrast to the variety of donuts along the coast, Krispy Kreme’s dough is lightly fried. The classic glazed variety has 195 calories, while a croissant has 350 calories.
The new store measures 1,800 sq ft and is the company’s eighth Hotlight store in the UK, but the first to offer walk-in only, with the other stores being more diner-style units. And most importantly, there’s a constant supply of hot donuts. Production line. This equipment has a production capacity of 36 dozen per hour, equivalent to 7,000 dozen per working day.
“At other Hotlites, hot donuts are only served for two to three hours per day. This is the first walk-in only store dedicated to hot distribution. The footfall to this site makes it work. Birmingham and Manchester could be similar. We want this to be a city center format that gives the brand a unique halo. If we can achieve the numbers. [on Oxford Street] If you do that, you’re a winner,” Dunning says.
Development of new models
This new site represents a very different model to our existing 140 stores in the UK and Ireland, and the great partnerships Krispy Kreme has with the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Road Chef, covering a further 1,650 stores. All of this is sourced daily from 16 kitchens via a hub-and-spoke system. Unsold donuts are returned and added to the animal food chain the next day.
The trading model is incredibly flexible, with just 80 square feet, including cabinets and registers, enough to provide basic services to a 1,500-person dine-in version. New stores open at a rate of 10 to 15 a year, with recent focus on Ireland but this year a move to the south-west of England. There is also a focus on transport hubs such as Gatwick, Stansted and Waterloo. The latter includes the American-style Airstream Caravan.
There’s also been a push to build an e-commerce business, which started simply as a “response to the coronavirus,” but now accounts for 10% of sales and is growing rapidly, Dunning said. Online sales will be split evenly between an online-only pre-order series and personalized his donuts delivered within his three days by DPD and on-demand orders delivered by couriers via food delivery aggregators .
The pandemic also prompted the launch of apps that support rewards-based loyalty programs, which have since incorporated e-commerce into those programs. This benefits program is heavily reflected in Crispy His Cream’s story about generosity and gift giving, and the industry-wide focus is on selling donuts in packs of 3, 6 and 10. That’s why. Dunning says it’s also much more cost-effective for customers to buy glazed donuts this way, as he can buy 12 for half the price of buying them individually.
Take advantage of generosity
The theme of generosity is true with the “Acts of Joy” initiative installed at every register in the store, giving servers the opportunity to make someone’s day with the gift of a donut purchase. This he carried out 500,000 times in 2023.
Beyond the complexity of working with “living, breathing” fresh fabrics, the business has a relatively simple model and manageable inventory structure. This includes his 16-item core product, which is replenished with seasonal donuts every four to five weeks. “These maintain short-term interest. Our donuts have a transparent feel and a lot of people claim they’re fresh, but they’re really not,” he suggests.
Adding to the simple nature of the product range and business model, 35% of UK sales come from Classic Glaze, and this can rise to 50% in some overseas markets. As these shiny, piping hot glazed donuts roll off the production line at the Oxford Street store, we’ll have to wait and see if this rate rises to match that of the international region.