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Eye on San Diego - April |
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Krispy Kreme, as stock-market watchers know, is a branded specialty retailer of premium-quality doughnuts. KK was trading in the 70s—higher than Qualcomm—as of early March. There are more than 160 stores in operation nationwide. Last year, revenues for the company, headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, rose 36 percent to $219 million, and net income totaled $10.5 million.Fine, but what about the taste of those premium-quality doughnuts? Were the 300 or so people who queued up at 5 a.m. for the opening of San Diego’s first Krispy Kreme (on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard) ahead of the curve, or just plain crazy? Do people consume mass quantities of Krispy Kremes because they really taste so good? Or have folks just bought into the hype?
We decided to find out.
A dozen doughnuts each were purchased from Krispy Kreme, downtown’s K.D.’s Donuts and VG’s Donuts & Bakery in Cardiff. Pre–Krispy Kreme era, VG’s was picked to have the best donuts in San Diego Magazine’s 2000 “Best of San Diego” guide.
The doughnuts we bought were cut into quarters. Armed now with 48 samples from each establishment, we were ready to set up our taste test. Our first choice for
a polling location was the offices of the San Diego Police Department. However, through spokesperson Bill Robinson, police chief David Bejerano declined our request to survey the demographic most associated with doughnut intake.
Undeterred, we set up camp outside the downtown Ralphs supermarket. We were flush with excitement—and armed with a gallon of Ralphs 2 percent milk for palate cleansing. We stripped away the doughnut shop names to let the products speak for themselves. Who would win? Mom-and-pop shop? Corporate titan?
For the most part, capitalism prevailed. Krispy Kreme was the preferred doughnut of 60 percent of the people we polled. VG’s was picked as number one by 40 percent of tasters. Sorry, K.D.’s.
However, our taste testers were also asked to rank the three samples. A doughnut got 1 point for a first-place vote, 2 points for second and 3 points for third (meaning the lowest score, as in golf, is the best). In this scoring set-up, VG’s barely bested Krispy Kreme, by a 78-79 score. This was due to more people ranking Krispy Kreme third (20 percent) than VG’s (7 percent).
What does it all mean? We’re not entirely sure. But the following exchange, overheard during the survey, seems to sum up the experiment:
“It’s all about the glaze,” said one man. “I have a really high tolerance for sugar, which is why I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They’re coated with a thick glaze.”
Responded another taster: “That’s why I thought VG’s doughnuts tasted so much better. They had the perfect amount of glaze—not too much—evenly distributed all over the doughnut.”
Final words of wisdom from the first man: “I guess it really depends on what you’re looking for in a doughnut.”
—Lynna Jamison
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