The more I travel the world, the less surprised I become when I see a random American shop on foreign soil. (I was, however, quite surprised to see a Dunkin Donuts in Cambodia in 2008, but I digress…)
Globalization is real, folks.
One example was during my most recent trip to Paris, in December.
One day, I was travelling around on the subway, when suddenly on the platform I spotted an advertisement that surprised me: the iconic American donut shop Krispy Kreme had arrived in Paris.
Keep in mind that KK has some pretty stiff competition, because France takes its baked goods very seriously. But it must have had enough confidence to try to push itself through to the French market as a novelty.
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Posters were all over the city in anticipation of the opening, much to the disdain of the city’s deputy mayor, who said Paris was ‘littered’ with the ads. Many of them used clever wordplay, such as ‘macaron démission!’ - poking fun at an anti-Macron slogan 'Macron démission!’ (Macron resign!). But instead, it called for the resignation of the iconic French sweet, the macaron. Cute, no?
Krispy Kreme opened its doors in Paris on December 6, with as many as 500 people waiting in line in sweet anticipation. Sometime around then, I was on the subway again and saw a kid carrying the iconic white box with green polka dots and red logo. Even Food & Wine magazine and The New York Times wrote a piece about KK’s Paris debut.
Here’s a link to Krispy Kreme’s French website: Krispy Kreme France – la marque iconique qui vend des doughnuts, pas des donuts (translates to ‘KK France - the iconic brand that sells doughnuts, not donuts’)
I first became acquainted with Krispy Kreme when living in Alexandria, Virginia in the early 2000’s. There was an old sign on Route 1 just like the one above, advertising doughnuts that were ‘HOT NOW’. Once inside the store, I could see a conveyor belt pumping out warm glazed donuts. That’s what I call pure heaven.
Krispy Kreme got its start in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1937. Its owner, Vernon Rudolph, bought a secret yeast doughnut recipe from a chef in New Orleans and the rest is history.
You can read more about KK’s early days here.
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Unfortunately, my donut-eating days are over (I’ve had so many, there are probably remnants still stuck somewhere inside me). But that doesn’t mean Parisians shouldn’t be entitled to a taste of this edible American icon.