Krispy Kreme kicks off 2024 with leadership announcements and a new third-party logistics delivery pilotKrispy Kreme kicks off 2024 with leadership announcements and a new third-party logistics delivery pilot

Joanna Fantozzi

New Krispy Kreme CEO, Josh Charlesworth — who led his first earnings call for the brand on Tues. Feb. 13 for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023 — is not the only new face that joined the Charlotte, N.C.-based doughnut logistics brand. During the earnings call, Krispy Kreme announced two new leadership appointments: Angela Yochem (formerly of Novant Health), who joined the company as chief information officer in Dec. 2023; and Sherif Riad (formerly of Mondolez), who has been with the company since 2021 and was promoted to chief global supply chain officer in January.

“As a leadership team, we are focused on quality fresh doughnuts in every channel every day, expanding the use of automated donut making and processing and continuously improving our donut delivery capabilities as we support more and more points of access,” Charlesworth said during Tuesday’s earnings call.

Besides bolstering its global leadership team, Krispy Kreme also announced new initiatives for the company, including a four-six-month pilot delivery program in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. with a third-party logistics provider, while still using Krispy Kreme trucks and drivers. The purpose of this pilot program is to assess if the level of quality and service is still maintained while using a third-party delivery partner.

Related:Krispy Kreme is narrowing its focus on the road to 75,000 points of access

The company is also assessing its partnership with McDonald’s and remains in discussions with the quick-service chain about further expansion to the program, and will update investors further later in the year.  

Krispy Kreme ended the fiscal year of 2023 with 11.4% revenue growth for the quarter, bolstered by strong Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas promotional menu items and partnerships, as well as increased points of access, which grew by 743 globally during the quarter, for a total of 14,100 global points of access across 39 countries. The company also announced 25% ecommerce growth, driven by loyalty members, which now total 15 million members.

“As we move forward in 2024, we will continue to offer new and exciting specialty premium donuts, upgrade our digital commerce capabilities and expand the availability of our doughnuts around the world, including in our newest sales channels, like club stores, and quick service restaurants,” Charlesworth said Tuesday. “We will also increase our efforts to modernize the making and moving of donuts to ensure we deliver high quality profitable growth. Let me summarize today's key messages.”

Krispy Kreme reported a net income of $1.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, or $0.02 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $1.0 million or a net loss of $0.04 per share for the same quarter in 2022.

Related:Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s are expanding their relationship

Contact Joanna at [email protected]