Krispy Kreme now in Medellin - Medellin Living

Krispy Kreme Opens Its First Donut Shop in Medellín

March 14, 2016 By Jeff 6 Comments

Krispy Kreme opened its first donut shop in Medellín on March 10, which is located in a new building in El Poblado along the Milla de Oro (Golden Mile), a short distance from the Papa John’s Pizza that opened in September last year.
Krispy Kreme entered the Colombian market in Bogotá in late 2013 and they now have five shops in Bogotá plus one located in Chía.
When I went in the morning on Saturday in Medellín, the third day it was open, the new Krispy Kreme was packed with customers. The line to order donuts took 40 minutes and they were handing out free donuts to customers in line.
The Krispy Kreme donut machine located in the new Medellín store was also busy making a high volume of fresh donuts for the customers.

Front of the new Krispy Kreme store in El Poblado

More About Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937 in historic Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina after Vernon Rudolph bought a secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe from a New Orleans French chef.
The company’s first retail store selling directly to customers opened in 1989 in North Carolina and the company rapidly expanded its retail operations in the United States. The first international Krispy Kreme opened in Canada in 2001.
Krispy Kreme now has over 1,000 donut shops in 27 countries. In Latin America the chain has donut shops in only four countries: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Inside Krispy Kreme in Medellín placing orders

Donuts in Medellín and Colombia

Krispy Kreme’s biggest competition in Colombia is Dunkin’ Donuts, which has more than 175 stores in the country. Dunkin’ Donuts closest donut-selling competitor in Colombia has fewer than two-dozen stores.
Dunkin’ Donuts has been operating in Colombia for over 30 years through a local franchiser Donucol Colombia.
Donucol has used a relatively conservative growth strategy, opening only about five new stores a year in Colombia and renovating its existing store base on a regular basis.
Dunkin’ Donuts is the market share leader in Colombia currently selling about 2 million donuts per month in the country. Dunkin Donuts also sells coffee in Colombia, as it does in the United States, however so far the company has been more successful in selling donuts in Colombia.
Cinnabon is also successful in Colombia with it cinnamon rolls. Cinnabon has five shops in Bogotá, five in Medellín, one in Pereira, two in Cartagena and one in Manizales.
There are also a number of small individual donut shops in Medellín with a range of qualities of donuts, some pretty good, while some not so good. You can also find donuts in most grocery stores.

The Krispy Kreme Donut Manufacturing Machine

Krispy Kreme’s Menu

The menu for Krispy Kreme in Colombia can be found online here , but without prices.
The donuts at Krispy Kreme at the Medellín store cost 26,000 pesos ($8.24) for a dozen glazed donuts or 28,000 pesos ($8.87) for a dozen assorted donuts.
For a single donut the cost is 3,100 pesos for a glazed donut or 3,300 pesos for other types of donuts.
The store also sells a number of beverages. A small coffee costs 2,900 pesos or 3,100 pesos for a large coffee. An espresso costs 3,000 pesos and an espresso double is 4,000 pesos. I noticed most customers in the store were only buying donuts with only a few buying beverages.
Cappuccino costs 4,000 pesos for a small or 4,900 pesos for a large. The store also offers a number of fresh juices for 6,500 pesos.

My order of two-dozen fresh donuts

Which U.S.-based Chain is Next for Medellín?

Medellín has several U.S.-based chain restaurants and fast food places including Dunkin’ Donuts, Hard Rock Café, Hooters, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Domino’s, Papa John’s and now Krispy Kreme.
Bogotá has many more U.S.-based chain restaurants that aren’t available yet in Medellín, including Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Chili’s, TGI Fridays, P.F. Changs and Taco Bell.
Starbucks disclosed that they are planning to open in Medellín at the time they opened their first store in Bogotá but they didn’t provide a timeline for Medellín (they now have 10 stores in Bogotá).
I continue to suspect that we may see at least a couple more U.S.-based chains open locations in Medellín over the next year or two, with these most likely being U.S.-based chains that are already operating in Bogotá.