Krispy Kreme may yet survive the kollapsing ekonomy

Krispy Kreme is a North Carolina institution: over the years, thousands of N.C. children have raised funds for their schools and youth groups by peddling boxes of hot glazed doughnuts, and the company is as interwoven to state culture as NASCAR, college basketball and barbecue. North Carolinians are about as provincial and stubborn in the great doughnut battle (Krispy Kreme vs. that sorry upstart Dunkin' Dougnuts) as they are about Eastern-style Barbecue vs. Lexington.

But that doesn't mean the Winston-Salem doughnut maker will survive the global economic recession.

Oddly enough, it may just be the global marketplace that saves the company, says the Winston-Salem Journal.

Krispy Kreme's "growing international sales could be the key ingredient in keeping Krispy Kreme independent and out of bankruptcy -- a fate that some analysts have predicted for this year."

All of which means that the jobs of 3,829 employees, including 414 in Winston-Salem and another 76 in the Triad, are riding on Krispy Kreme's ability to make its doughnuts a lifestyle choice rather than an occasional treat in markets as diverse as China, Kuwait and Turkey.

More than 80 percent of Krispy Kreme's stores are operated by franchisees, and 57 percent of its 526 stores are based outside the United States, as of Jan. 31.

Kristin Graham, a senior analyst for The Motley Fool, a financial-services company, said she questions whether Krispy Kreme will be able to survive because of the level of debt it took on during its ill-fated domestic expansion strategy under a previous top executive, Scott Livengood.

"But if there is a life preserver for Krispy Kreme, it would be its international sales," Graham said. "If they can expand and establish the brand correctly overseas, it could be enough to carry them through 2009."

The company plans to open at least 75 stores in just China, Malaysia and Turkey by 2013. ...

Here's to hoping "KK" (as it's called in our household) survives and flourishes. There's just not really anything quite like a hot glazed doughnut, straight off the glazing journey.

Krispy Kreme to unveil all-wheat doughnut

The Associated Press is reporting that Krispy Kreme will soon unveil a doughnut that is made of whole weat.

The doughnut will have just 180 calories, caramel flavoring and will be covered with its original glaze.

"The Krispy Kreme Whole Wheat Glazed doughnut delivers the delicious taste that our customers have come to expect from us," Stan Parker, the company's senior vice president of marketing, told the AP.

"Krispy Kreme sales started slipping three years ago as the company expanded its operations during the height of the low-carbohydrate diet craze," says the news service. "Executives also had to sort out an accounting mess, with the company's board concluding that two former executives were trying to "manage earnings" to meet Wall Street expectations."