Quote:You totally do! I've been doing lots of freelance writing research and could send you some stuff if you're interested.
Hey, if you've got something pertaining to marketing bumper stickers, by all means, send it along. The email is my sign on name at that hotmail place (wouldn't want to broadcast it, y'know).
Quote:Marion Berry makes fritters now? Glad he made good.
Yeah, he's cracked a new market. People are hooked. (HA! Actually, it's a local berry. No idea what it looks like, but it's damned fine in the baked and fried goods.)
I don't see what's so wonderfull about Krippy Kreme donuts either. I don't understand the flocking, the news worthiness or any of it. I've had them, once or twice because it was easier to find a krispy kreme than a dunkin donuts in Georgia.
Who owns the corporation? Follow the money. Me thinks there is probably a connection between Krispy Kreme and one of the mega media company owners.
...stoopid thing... wanted to post an image of Robert McClosky's book Homer Price...
And the doughnuts just kept on a-comin'
I love the idea of celebrity food, Noddy! That is such a perfect way to describe it !
And there is something to be said about watching your food be made - the mechanics might hold part of the attraction.
I'm no pastry expert but I do like a good apple fritter - now I really must try a marionberry fritter - where in the world do you find those. Living as I do in marionberry country you'd think I'd know.
There is a store here called Voodoo doughnuts that sell - I kid you not - Nyquil doughnuts, using cherry Nyquil with cherry Tums sprinkles. Now I might stand in line for one of those just so that I could say that I'd done it.
Honestly though - the buzz is unbelievable. As a person who relies a bit on effective marketing I'd really like to know how to get everyone talking about something so ordinary.
Who does own Krispy Kreme? Aren't they franchises?
Is it my imagination or did they first get ingrained in our public conciousness when Bill Clinton stopped into a shop for a nibble?
Everything you always wanted to know about Krispy Kremes
Personally, I'd rather have a good old fashioned bakery donut anyday/
I found their corporate website.
http://www.krispykreme.com/
Here's what their Company Profile Page has to say...
Quote:Corporate Profile
Whether you are already a Krispy Kreme shareholder or you simply want to find out more about what we do and how we do it, our Investor Relations web site is the place to go. This is where you'll find news and answers to many of your questions.
Since Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937, we have grown into a leading branded specialty retailer, producing more than 5 million doughnuts a day and over 1.8 billion a year. In addition to our Krispy Kreme stores, we sell our premium quality doughnuts in supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail outlets throughout the country. Best known for our fresh, glazed, yeast-raised doughnuts, known as "Hot Original Glazed," we also make more than a dozen other varieties of yeast-raised and cake doughnuts.
Our place in American society was recognized in 1997 with the induction of Krispy Kreme artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. We differentiate ourselves by combining quality ingredients, a vertically integrated production process and a unique retailing experience that demonstrates the doughnutmaking process right before the customer's eyes.
THE UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF OUR DOUGHNUTS Our market research indicates that Krispy Kreme's breadth of appeal extends across all major demographic groups, including age and income. In addition to their taste, quality and simplicity, Krispy Kreme doughnuts are an affordable treat. Many of our customers purchase our doughnuts by the dozen for their office, clubs and family.
STRONG BRAND The Krispy Kreme brand has several unique elements that have helped us create a special bond with our customers. Our doughnuts, which are made from a secret recipe that has been in our company since 1937, have a one-of-a kind taste that generations of loyal customers have grown to love. Our Hot Doughnuts Now sign, when illuminated, is a signal to our customers that our signature product, Hot Original Glazed doughnuts, is being made. The Hot Doughnuts Now sign is a strong impulse purchase generator and an integral contributor to our brand's mystique. Krispy Kreme is committed to strong local community relationships. Our store operators support their local communities through fundraising programs and the sponsorship of local events.
DOUGHNUT THEATER Our stores are specially designed to showcase the doughnutmaking process and provide a multi-sensory experience for customers. Our full-service stores have glass viewing areas that allow customers to watch the doughnuts being made. Each store can produce anywhere from 4,000 to over 10,000 dozen per day, which are sold both on premises and off-premises.
Here's a small summary of the company history:
1937 Vernon Rudolph bought the doughnut recipe from a French chef in New Orleans.
Beatrice Foods in 1976
1982 a small group of franchisees bought Krispy Kreme back from Beatrice Foods
1997 they donated company artifacts to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
2000 Went public with first stock offering of common stock.
You can find all the financial bean counting and stock type data here:
http://ir.thomsonfn.com/InvestorRelations/PubCorporateOverview.aspx?partner=Mzg0TmpBeE1nPT1QJFkEQUALSTO&product=MzgwU1ZJPVAkWQEQUALSTOEQUALSTO
Take a look at their Corporate Governance page. Some interesting names and bios there.
Krispy Kreme is a publically owned corporation (listed on the NYSE under the stock symbol KKD). One share of stock goes for around $33.00 which is an absurdly high price.
Seeing the doughnuts fall off the assembly line into your bag may have an appeal to some people but doughnut technology isn't rocket science. Eventually Walmart, Kroger &/or 7-11 will be able to cut out KKD. I've never invested money in KKD, long or short.
My grandmother, on my father's side of the family, made great doughnuts. She could speak English if she wanted to but she preferred German. She punched the holes in the doughnuts out with her thumb, and dropped the dough into the oil.
The end product was not an airy donut, like KKD's. It wasn't even like a good bagel. Rather it was small and heavy, easy to put into a small pack or pouch. And it was good. God, it was good.
The long and short of it is some guy recovering from The Depression bought a recipe for beignets from some French guy in New Orleans. Beatrice Foods bought it, puffed it up with gas and turned it into Wonder Bread. The distributors liked it so much they bought back the company and borrowed from Rube Goldberg's contraptions to turn it into "Doughnut Theater."
I grew up eating Krispy Kremes in Baton Rouge. (late 60s forward) They haven't changed the recipe significantly since then.
I gotta say it pains me. I have early connoisseur creds, fostered small, very small restaurants with good food for decades before most paid any attention,
have cooked myself foods of many cuisines, appreciate excellent preparation of good food wherever I see it, and I am the only person here, albeit from having eaten one half of one crispy kreme thing, and rather liking it, being blasted with how very very very wrong I am.
I admit right away it is wisest to make your own doughnuts from scratch. I also admit the one Crispy whatsis I had a bite of wasn't routine.
I guess I don't (hmm, don't, donut) get the strong resistance. But then I don't live in Krispy land. We don't have one here, for miles and miles.
I joined a group that was originally formed in response to a MacDonald's appearing in a historic place...but I didn't join that group for just that reason, more to promote appreciation of regional good food.
So I take on defending Krispies, which I have had, you may remember, a mere bite of, with a certain perspective, as in, what the hell.
I don't think you've been blasted Osso! I think there is more creduility as to "Why?". Would you stand in line for 24 hours waiting for one?
I mena, I've had KKD's and I'd put them in the "ok" category. They don't do anything for me though and I certainly wouldn't wait more than 3 or 4 minutes in line to get one. I am bemused by the hoopla that surrounds each store's openeing though.
fishin's right osso. I don't think anyone was saying that people who love Krispy Kremes as wacky, I think that, like me, many people don't understand the hoopla.
I've had a Krispy Kreme and while I thought it was good I don't get the urgency that people seem to feel towards them. I confess to waiting about an hour for a table in one of my favorite restaurants but I'd never wait 24 hours, camping on their sidewalk.
I'm intrigued by the phenomonon, just as I'm intrigued every Christmas by the "must have" toy and by books that are "hand sold" by people working in bookstores (I believe "The Lovely Bones" and "Seabiscuit" buzz started this way). It happens with movies: "The Blair Witch", for example.
I'm curious about how such events happen, about how certain products seem to speak to us culturally. I didn't intend to start a debate the doughnut thread - but it's okay that it took that turn.
Personally, I prefer savory to sweet, which may be why I don't get the craze. I confess to wanting to read "The Fight Club" - the only book by Palahnuick that I haven't yet read - but that I can't bring myself to buy a book with Brad Pitts' photo on the cover (how silly is that?)
I'll also confess to reading and rereading Paco Underhill, the retail anthropologist's book, "Why We Buy" and everything by Faith Popcorn, the trend analyst. Add to this list a wide variety of books about marketing and advertising and selling. Then along comes Krispy Kreme and on sheer buzz alone knocks everyone off their feet. To say that I'd love to know how they do it is an understatement.
fishin' wrote:I don't think you've been blasted Osso! I think there is more creduility as to "Why?". Would you stand in line for 24 hours waiting for one?
I mena, I've had KKD's and I'd put them in the "ok" category. They don't do anything for me though and I certainly wouldn't wait more than 3 or 4 minutes in line to get one. I am bemused by the hoopla that surrounds each store's openeing though.
Nail on the head, fishin'. When the damn thing finally opened up in Seattle, it was so busy that there were cops directing traffic IN THE PARKING LOT. And they opened up right across the street from a pretty decent mom-and-pop donut shup. It's utterly senseless.
Lord knows I've got nothing against cheap, subpar food -- I've eaten my share of Doritos -- but the over-the-top reaction to these things boggles the mind. (I was gratified to see the other day that there are several hundred KK donuts languishing in a freezer here that didn't get sold during a fund raiser.)
I'll go there when they sell an all-meat donut.
Oh, I didn't mean really blasted! I was just amazed no one, no one, rose, ha, in Krispy Kreme's defense. I wouldn't stand in line either, good grief.
I'm originally from Dunkin' Donuts territory, so when I moved to a place that had Krispie Kremes, I wanted to know what drew people to this donut. Part of the discovery was in its presentation; the donut is almost tranluscent. They have so many chemicals in them that they glow. These donuts glow.
A-ha! It's an evil goverment plot! Aliens have brewed up a potent substance that *
glows* and enslaves anyone who ingests it.
We finally have an explantion for Bush!!
They glow? What kind of chemicals are in a doughnut that can make it glow?
They enslave people?
Now I think we might be getting to the root of the hysteria!
