Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is expanding its presence in Central America through a franchisee agreement to open 16 shops in Panama by the end of 2020.
The company said Monday it is working with Barcenas Group International Inc.
Panama becomes the 31st country – counting the United States – in which Krispy Kreme has doughnuts shops or plans to open shops in the near term.
“Our partners in Panama understand the demands of the Panamanian customer and have what it takes to create the experience enjoyed in our shops around the world,” Dan Beem, president of Krispy Kreme’s international division, said in a statement.
The other Central American franchisee presence is in Guatemala. The company also has shops in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.
Krispy Kreme had made a sizable push into Latin America in the past year.
In September, the company announced plans for 24 franchisee shops in Peru and 12 in Bolivia. The company’s entrance into South America was in Colombia. The company also has shops in Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth.
The largest international presence for Krispy Kreme is in Asia, where it has franchisee shops or commitments for shops in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
The rest of Krispy Kreme’s current and future global markets are in Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Kuwait, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.
In June, Krispy Kreme said its delicacies will be made available in U.S. military bases in Europe through a partnership with the Army & Air Force Exchange Services. The products debuted on Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
The military group’s production plant in Gruenstadt, Germany, will produce and distribute fresh products daily to troops and their families at U.S. military bases in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
The arrangement spreads Krispy Kreme’s European presence beyond a relatively limited retail market of 21 shops in Turkey and 53 in the United Kingdom.
John Stanton, a professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, said he’s not sure Krispy Kreme will gain European momentum with the U.S. military base presence.
The main concern expressed by analysts about Krispy Kreme since 2010 is whether it can avoid expanding beyond its ability to handle growth, as it did in the mid-2000s.
Management has stated a goal of having more than 900 international and 400 domestic shops by the end of fiscal 2017, or by early February 2017.
As of Nov. 1, Krispy Kreme had 1,084 shops, up from 925 a year ago.
The breakdown as of Nov. 1 was 792 international franchisee shops, 176 domestic franchisee shops and 116 company-owned domestic shops.
For fiscal 2017, which begin early February 2016, Krispy Kreme plans to open a net 10 company, 20 domestic franchisee and 100 international franchisee shops.
Hope Krispy Kreme does better in Panama than they did in Canada. Canadians didn’t like the huge amounts of sugar and gobs of icing on KK’s donuts. Way too sweet and rich, like eating a bowl of sugar topped with icing.
Just what Panama needs. More aids to the growing obesity problem.