Australia is one of the biggest Krispy Kreme markets among overseas countries where the US chain operates. Krispy Kreme, currently headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, opened its first store in Nashville, Tennessee in 1934, and has since spread across the US and all over the world. The first Australian store opened in Sydney over a decade ago, and now there are 23 stores located across Australia. Since the beginning of a partnership with 7-eleven in 2012, their doughnuts have become widely accessible to consumers across the nation.
However, it was not until November 2014, when Krispy Kreme opened a new store in Perth, that people on the west coast got to experience the American doughnuts for the first time. In recent years, Krispy Kreme had been planning and experimenting with the Perth market. This included a pop up stall in 2013, where they were successful in selling 216,000 doughnuts within nine days.
The long-awaited grand opening in Perth brought excitement to many Western Australians. Some of the most enthusiastic doughnut lovers camped outside the new store for several nights before the opening, hoping to be the first to grab a bite. The opening was so successful that it set a new sales record for the chain. Despite Western Australia’s small population, a total of 73,200 doughnuts were sold on the first day. This effort involved more than 100 Krispy Kreme staff, who busily made more than 2,600 doughnuts per hour.
On the international scale, Krispy Kreme has been rapidly expanding their market in the Asia Pacific, including franchises in South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Malaysia. As of 2013, there were more than 500 international franchise stores operating in 21 countries worldwide.
Amongst numerous possible emerging international markets in the Asia-Pacific, franchisees are showing more interest in the Western Australia market due to its growing economy and population. Krispy Kreme and 7-eleven are optimistic about the potential of Western Australia, and seek to launch 75 more 7-eleven stores across the state over the next five years.
Sakura Kajimura is a Research Intern at the East-West Center in Washington and an undergraduate student at the University of Western Australia.