NEW - Low Sugar Krispy Kreme doughnuts!
Responding to Anti-Fat Crusade, Krispy Kreme Unveils Low-Sugar Doughnut
By Brian Louis, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 11 - The anti-obesity crusade has caught up with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.
The Winston-Salem doughnut maker said yesterday that it plans to offer a low-sugar doughnut.
Amy Hughes, the company's communications director, said that the new product would expand the company's customer base to include dieters and diabetics.
That's quite a development for the company, which has built its empire on the back of its sugary Hot Original Glazed doughnuts.
Just one of these signature treats carries 200 calories. More than half of those calories come from fat, which gives the fried doughnut texture and flavor. Total fat in a Hot Original Glazed? 12 grams. Add on 10 grams of sugar, too.
One loyal customer, a Wake Forest medical student, said that it was a good idea to offer a healthier treat, but he doubted he would abandon his regular diet.
'As for me, I'll die eating the fattening doughnuts,' Clint Beaver said.
One of his friends, Nathan Painter, found the whole idea of a low-calorie doughnut strange. 'It just seems odd they're trying to be healthy.'
Still, he said, he would give one a try.
The idea of introducing a low-sugar doughnut isn't new for the company.
'We've been looking at this for some time,' Hughes said.
Hughes said that research is still being conducted on the product.
John Tate, Krispy Kreme's chief operating officer, told Bloomberg News that the company hopes to introduce the new product by the end of the year.
It would not be the first time that a member of the $3 billion-a-year-doughnut industry has tried to come up with a marketable low-calorie or low-fat option.
According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, in the late 1980s Dunkin' Donuts offered a cholesterol-free doughnut that contained no eggs and no milk. It went nowhere. In the 1990s, it said, Entemann's Bakery offered one with 25 percent less fat, but poor sales prompted the company to shelve it.
By Brian Louis, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 11 - The anti-obesity crusade has caught up with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.
The Winston-Salem doughnut maker said yesterday that it plans to offer a low-sugar doughnut.
Amy Hughes, the company's communications director, said that the new product would expand the company's customer base to include dieters and diabetics.
That's quite a development for the company, which has built its empire on the back of its sugary Hot Original Glazed doughnuts.
Just one of these signature treats carries 200 calories. More than half of those calories come from fat, which gives the fried doughnut texture and flavor. Total fat in a Hot Original Glazed? 12 grams. Add on 10 grams of sugar, too.
One loyal customer, a Wake Forest medical student, said that it was a good idea to offer a healthier treat, but he doubted he would abandon his regular diet.
'As for me, I'll die eating the fattening doughnuts,' Clint Beaver said.
One of his friends, Nathan Painter, found the whole idea of a low-calorie doughnut strange. 'It just seems odd they're trying to be healthy.'
Still, he said, he would give one a try.
The idea of introducing a low-sugar doughnut isn't new for the company.
'We've been looking at this for some time,' Hughes said.
Hughes said that research is still being conducted on the product.
John Tate, Krispy Kreme's chief operating officer, told Bloomberg News that the company hopes to introduce the new product by the end of the year.
It would not be the first time that a member of the $3 billion-a-year-doughnut industry has tried to come up with a marketable low-calorie or low-fat option.
According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, in the late 1980s Dunkin' Donuts offered a cholesterol-free doughnut that contained no eggs and no milk. It went nowhere. In the 1990s, it said, Entemann's Bakery offered one with 25 percent less fat, but poor sales prompted the company to shelve it.
