Krispy Kreme Analysis

Section 1: Corporate-Level

Part 1: Brief History of the Corporation

The story of Krispy Kreme begins in 1933, when Vernon Carver Rudolph buys a doughnut shop and a “secret recipe” from a French chef in Paducah, Kentucky. Before long Rudolph and his partner moved to Nashville, Tennessee, looking to expand into a larger market. In Nashville, members of the Rudolph family joined the business, which was primarily focused on selling doughnuts to local grocery stores.
In 1937, Rudolph decides to leave Nashville to open his own shop. Rudolph and two other men head off to Winston-Salem in their 1936 Pontiac with nothing but $25 cash, a few pieces of doughnut making equipment, the secret recipe, and the name: Krispy Kreme. When they arrived in Winston-Salem they used their last $25 to rent a building, and then, with no money left to buy ingredients, they had to borrow their ingredients from a nearby grocer. The next thing they needed was a way to deliver their ...