Krispy Kreme’s Doughnut-Decorating Robots Were a ‘Supermessy’ Disaster. Now It’s Hiring Humans.
The doughnut chain brought in humans to decorate limited-edition Harry Potter and He-Man designs for the social media crowd.
Krispy Kreme was in a hole. The company makes more than one billion doughnuts a year 鈥 but when it came to using robots to make its specialty doughnuts Instagram-worthy, the machines couldn’t do it. 鈥淚t got supermessy,鈥 CEO Josh Charlesworth told .
The solution should be music to anyone’s ears who fears robots will replace us. The company is now hiring human artists to create limited-edition designs 鈥 Harry Potter, He-Man, Milk Bar collaborations 鈥 and doing 15 to 20 special runs a year plus seasonal collections. Customers lined up for a Harry Potter collection last year.
The human pivot is part of a broader turnaround. Krispy Kreme posted losses last year after a high-profile McDonald’s partnership fell flat. The company has since cut costs, shed unprofitable delivery routes and shifted distribution to Walmart, Target and Kroger. Only 25% of its machine capacity is currently being used 鈥 meaning there’s plenty of room to grow without adding automation.
In a world obsessed with AI, sometimes even a billion-doughnut operation needs a human touch.
Krispy Kreme was in a hole. The company makes more than one billion doughnuts a year 鈥 but when it came to using robots to make its specialty doughnuts Instagram-worthy, the machines couldn’t do it. 鈥淚t got supermessy,鈥 CEO Josh Charlesworth told .
The solution should be music to anyone’s ears who fears robots will replace us. The company is now hiring human artists to create limited-edition designs 鈥 Harry Potter, He-Man, Milk Bar collaborations 鈥 and doing 15 to 20 special runs a year plus seasonal collections. Customers lined up for a Harry Potter collection last year.
The human pivot is part of a broader turnaround. Krispy Kreme posted losses last year after a high-profile McDonald’s partnership fell flat. The company has since cut costs, shed unprofitable delivery routes and shifted distribution to Walmart, Target and Kroger. Only 25% of its machine capacity is currently being used 鈥 meaning there’s plenty of room to grow without adding automation.
In a world obsessed with AI, sometimes even a billion-doughnut operation needs a human touch.
