Krispy Kreme (Manukau City, New Zealand)

New Zealand was long due to have a Krispy Kreme store, it was quite so overdue it created such a huge hype and on its opening day (28 February 2018) tons of people queued even some for 36 hours before its launch. It’s like an iPhone launch where people camped out just to have the first taste of their doughnuts, there are perks of doing it first where the first one received a year’s worth of free doughnuts (a dozen a week), the second in line received six months’ worth and the third for one month, it does not stop there as the first 100 customers get a numbered t-shirt reflecting their number in line plus a free box of doughnuts.

There were lots of stories that circulated this opening some good and some bad, one of the most significant was the Filipina who got rejected after queuing in store from 2:30am on that opening day, apparently the free doughnuts promotion was for New Zealand citizens only and she was not. This sparked outrage within the Filipino community as well as with the Kiwis who hates racial profiling and it was a PR in the end making this doughnut store even more popular.

I was tempted to queue but I knew how it would look like so I never bothered, I tried Krispy Kreme before in Las Vegas and it is not just worth it for me queuing for a long time just to have their doughnuts, what I did was to visit them a week after where the hype would have died down. It certainly did but still there were queues even early in the morning, I visited it around 8:30 AM and the time I started to grab the doughnuts the line started to pile up, I think there were at least 15 people behind me, there were even barriers similar to theme parks so lines get organized.

What’s impressive in this store is their open window production line where you see donuts on conveyor belts being prepared, it was a sight to see as this automated production line churns out 4320 doughnuts an hour and the queue is right beside it. There are several options one you get to the counter where you can get single donuts (NZ$3.00 – NZ$3.50), four pack of the original glazed (NZ$10.90), four pack of the assorted (NZ$12.90), a dozen of the original glazed (NZ$19.90), two dozens of the original glazed (NZ$29.90), a dozen of the assorted (NZ$27.90) and two dozens of the assorted (NZ$42.90).

The dozen of assorted can contain any of these donuts: Vanilla Slice, Original Glazed, Caramel Iced, Apple Custard Crumble, Choc Iced, Choc Iced Custard, Choc Iced Sprinkles, Traditional Cinnamon, Kookies n’ Kreme, Strawberry Iced, Strawberry Jam and Dulce de Leche and its come pre packed for you so you just grab a box and pay, leaving the hassle of picking and choosing but don’t worry if you can still pick and choose if you wish to.

I grabbed the double dozen so we can try each flavour twice and as expected it is still the same quality of doughnuts I tried many years ago, soft and pillowy with the right amount of toppings used. Was it worth a long queue, well I guess for many it is but for me I would just wait for the right time when I can enjoy it without the stress of lining for a long time.

Krispy Kreme
Address: 3 Ronwood Ave, Manukau, Auckland 2104, New Zealand
Phone: +639 869 2235
Website: https://www.krispykreme.co.nz/

Additional Photos of succeeding visits