When the chain first opened in Australia there were queues outside its shops, but it appears that the popularity has now faded: link to story.
I did rather like this quote:
I don’t mind the odd Krispy Kreme Doughnut (They are very tasty, after all!) but they’re freaking expensive (something like $3 each) and there’s not actually that many places you can buy them.
I does make me scratch my head a bit when you consider there are other successful places (Donut King and Wendy’s- not the burger place, the other one- for example) which are pretty much the same sort of thing as Krispy Kreme and they appear to be doing alright.
Is voluntary administration the same thing as bankruptcy?
I personally hate Krispy Kreme. They taste like solid sugar. And this is coming from someone with a terrible sweet tooth!
Weird. They had similar troubles in Canada. KK must be an acquired taste.
Not quite. It’s a way of allowing a financially troubled company to continue to operate, under the direction of an administrator, who can assess its business model, rationalise its operations, arrange its sale etc.
I agree. I think they’re vile. But I’d say the key problem here is how much they cost. They’re vastly overpriced - as **Martini Enfield **notes.
They’re too much for my tastes. Too much sugar, too much fat, and I say that as someone who doesn’t mind sugar and fat. I tried one once, never again.
Way too sweet for me too - not worth the calories they come with. But I have heard the rumour Dunkin Donuts is coming to Australia - for a box of munchkins I might sacrifice the diet!
After what’s happened to Krispy Kreme, I doubt Dunkin’ Donuts is going to bother setting up shop here. Especially since there’s already a couple of local places offering exactly the same thing anyway.
You could well be right. Although I debate that the local offerings are really that similar to DD. They do the fried dough-nut version, but not the cakey ones which I am fond of.
They’d be better unglazed. It’s the layer of pure sugar on top that’s so unappealing.
I’ve had Dunkin’ Donuts in both the US and Malaysia and whilst they were perfectly good doughnuts, they didn’t seem to be really any different from the sort of stuff Donut King and Wendy’s sell here. Ditto the coffee… it was OK but nothing special, no different to any other “Non-trendy” coffee, IMHO.
The thing about Krispy Kreme I didn’t like (apart from the appalling spelling, of course) was that the doughnuts seemed far too light and fluffy. It was like biting into sugary air. If I want fairy-floss, I know where to go.
So - next Starbucks, right?
Krispy Kreme is the anti-donut. Dunkin Donuts are the real deal. Cake donuts ftw!
We’re already doing our best to shed Starbucks - 61 out of 85 closed according to this article. Our local cafes are just too good. I think it’s only the frappucinos which are still keeping them in business.
I love the fact that in that article they go looking for someone in Australia who likes Starbucks and finds…a British backpacker!
After all the hype surrounding the opening of the first Krispy Kreme store here in Melbourne, I was all raring to go to experience the wonderful fare on offer.
Meh…they were ‘alright’ as far as donuts go, but oi-vey, the prices? As others have mentioned, we’ve already got fairly decent donut joints already, so paying double for a donut that was not twice as good sorta pissed me off.
As far as Starbucks goes…they can piss off too, because even a small-town coffee establishment does better lattes than they do.
When Starbucks were first opening in Sydney places like Balmain held protest rallies to keep them out. The barista at the place I used to go on Sundays had worked all over the world, including in the States. He said let them open where they like, they’ll go broke because they only know how to make coffee for Americans.
I did notice recently there are still some in Melbourne, which is a surprise. Every one I knew of in Sydney is gone and I had assumed they all had.
KK and DD donuts are pretty horrid. Plastic and sugary. The best donuts were the ones dad bought for us at the Footy - still piping hot on a winter day, and filled with jam.
Krispy Kreme donuts are really only good the very moment they come off the conveyor belt; if you can’t get 'em fresh, there’s really no point to them at all. But overall I think it was a mistake for KK to try to break into the Australian market - Aussies just don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as Americans do, in general. Stuff that I remember being sugary-sweet in America, like sandwich bread and peanut butter, just isn’t sweet here. It’s awesome! (Except that I just can’t convince any Aussie friends that peanut butter can be used in desserts … they always look at me funny when I make a peanut butter cheesecake. Ah well, more for me )
The closing of Starbucks makes me sad only because I got hooked on chai while I was still living in the US and Starbucks’ chai is the closest to the chai my local coffee shop used to serve. (When I lived in the US I wouldn’t touch a Starbucks chai, since the Oregon Chai at my coffee shop was so much better.) All the other chai I’ve tried in Australian coffee shops, whether local or franchise, has been from a powdered mix and has a chalkiness to it that I can’t stand. So now I have to take trips to Sydney or Melbourne in order to get my chai fix, and I fear that soon I won’t be able to have chai at all 
If only I liked coffee, perhaps the fact that other shops do better lattes would be some sort of consolation. Sigh.
don’t ask, there’s still at least one Starbucks in Sydney, down at Circular Quay (?) on the corner of Alfred and Park streets. Please don’t take it away from me! I need my liquid-concentrate-based chai! sob
You know you can buy liquid chai syrup at Woolworths, right? It’s in the Coffee/Tea/Hot Chocolate/Milk Additives aisle last I checked. Coles probably has it too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gloria Jeans sold it as well.