Over the past 75 years, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) won a fanatical following with one product: sinfully sugary doughnuts, served warm. “Nothing better than the classic glazed doughnuts,” says Rodney Blake, a Philadelphia banker who rarely passes a Krispy Kreme shop without stocking up. “There are other places to go if you want healthy food.”
That’s about to change. Chief Executive Officer James Morgan plans to add oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit juice to the Krispy Kreme menu. The very prospect would have been laughable in the late 1990s when the chain’s “Original Glazed” doughnut became a national obsession—before falling victim to overexpansion and the carb-free Atkins diet.