Lil McDonald’s Happy Meals: Food and a tiny piece of McDonald’s
New mini McDonald’s toys including miniature replicas of ordering kiosks, food plates and restaurants are coming to Happy Meals July 1.
Purchasing, or even finding an Original Glazed Doughnut at McDonald’s might prove difficult after July 2, which marks the end of Krispy Kreme’s partnership with the Golden Arches.
Both companies announced last week that, “after careful consideration,” they have decided to stop working together.
The fast-food giant began offering three Krispy Kreme doughnut options, including Original Glazed Doughnuts, Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles Doughnuts and Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled Doughnuts, at around 2,400 McDonald’s locations since March 2025.
Those offerings, however, failed to be successful and will soon be discontinued, according to the companies.
“We were excited and pleased to partner with Krispy Kreme,” Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s USA’s Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer said in a joint news release. “We had strong collaboration with Krispy Kreme, and they delivered a great, high-quality product for us, and while the partnership met our expectations for McDonald’s and Owner/Operators, this needed to be a profitable business model for Krispy Kreme as well.”
Krispy Kreme plans to prioritize expanding availability of its doughnuts while McDonald’s focuses on building the success of its breakfast.
Here’s what to know about the end of the Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s partnership.
When will McDonald’s stop serving Krispy Kreme doughnuts?
It’s not immediately clear when McDonald’s will officially serve its last Krispy Kreme doughnut (or if they already have), but the companies announced that their partnership officially ends on Tuesday, July 2.
Krispy Kreme did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
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When did the partnership between Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s start?
Fast food enthusiasts became aware of the companies’ short-lived partnership in late 2023 with a phased test roll out of doughnuts began at 160 McDonald’s restaurants in the Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky areas.
In October 2024, McDonald’s restaurants in the Chicago area began selling Original Glazed and other fresh doughnuts. That same month, Krispy Kreme locations began offering customers a free doughnut if they show they show a McDonald’s paper or digital receipt dated Oct. 10-14, 2024.
The two companies were initially gearing toward offering nationwide availability at participating restaurants by the end of 2026.
“Partnering with McDonald’s on a national scale will provide our fans and doughnut lovers unprecedented daily access to fresh doughnuts and the joy that is Krispy Kreme,” Charlesworth said in a March 2024 news release.
The test at 160 McDonald’s restaurants in Lexington and Louisville was deemed “successful” as “consumer excitement and demand exceeded expectations.”
Contributing: Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY
