Monday, April 27, 2009

The Doughnut Lands - RM2.50 for Krispy Kreme...

...will it prove too steep for the average Malaysian pocket?

And is this going to be enough of a profit margin at RM2.50 per doughnut?

How long will the queues last? Is there room for a premium doughnut player in town?

My spies inform me that the line at the inaugural Krispy Kreme store in Berjaya Times Square was as long as a snake today, all the way out to the entrance of the mall, say my spies.

However, it wasn't that long that they couldn't get a box of the doughnuts themselves.

Price point: RM2.50 per doughnut for the plain original glazed and RM2.80 for the more exotic variants with topics and the sort.

Having sampled the plain original glazed version from the box of six I received, I am pleased to say that it holds up muster to the ones I ate in HK with no variation or deviation in flavour or quality. But, as the Krispy Kreme head honchos were probably at the opening, QC is unlikely to be an issue. (we need to check back in on this in about 3-4 months because that's how long it took Big Apple to take a plunge). And I maintain the superiority of the Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnut over Big Apple any day. (see my story 'Much Ado about Doh' which compares Krispy Kreme against Big Apple against J Co.)

A biggest test for Krispy Kreme is probably going to be the MidValley store, which will open to considerable competition from Big Apple and Dunkin Doughnut. The inaugural store in Berjaya Times Square is home territory for the KK franchisor in Malaysia, which is the Berjaya Group (also the franchisor for Wendy's, Starbucks, Kenny Rogers and Papa John's Pizza).

I will be posting a list of my favourite doughnuts in due course.

Website: www.krispykreme.com.my



The Original Glazed Doughnut - note how the glaze is almost translucent and slightly matte. And the glaze *scrunches* when you bite into it.


Four In the box - the topped one is one of my favourites: New York Cheesecake!

The original glazed, from another perspective. The scrunching effect of the sugar (indication of the quality and smoothness of the glaze) can be seen here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oi Durian Queen!! I love your blog ... the pics are delish :-) Ok, that settles it: you're going on my honorary blogroll ... my first food blogger friend. Let's exchange links!

Pot Lin said...

Is it THAT good?? I am practically drooling now. I've tried the original glazed ones when krispy kreme opened in brisbane last year (the queue was ridiculously long) and it's very yummy but too sweet for me. I've decided to try the NY cheesecake topping ones the next time i go to kl..:)