After uproar, Krispy Kreme will let Minnesota college student resell its doughnuts

Krispy Kreme has reversed course after initially telling a college student he couldn’t resell its doughnuts in Minnesota, announcing that Jayson Gonzalez, 21, may continue his business as an independent operator. Krispy Kreme also said it will donate 500 dozen doughnuts to his business. 

“I am definitely going to need a bigger vehicle,” Gonzalez said in a Facebook post for his business, dubbed Krispy Kreme Run Minnesota.

The uproar began when the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota profiled Gonzalez’s entrepreneurial spirit, documenting his 270-mile drive to a Krispy Kreme store in Clive, Iowa, where he loaded up on doughnuts to resell to customers in Minnesota. The state hasn’t had a Krispy Kreme store in 11 years, and Gonzalez, an accounting student at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, wanted to meet the needs of doughnut fans while earning money to pay down his student debt.

After the newspaper article appeared, Krispy Kreme’s Nebraska office called Gonzales and told him to stop, saying his sales created a liability for the North Carolina-based company. Gonzales told his fans on Facebook that he would call it quits, adding “life happens.”

But the company’s snub kicked off a protest on social media, including a hashtag on Twitter calling for a Krispy Kreme boycott.

By late Monday, Krispy Kreme had reversed course. “We are happy to work with Jayson as an independent operator to ensure consistent delivery of our high-quality doughnuts to to our fans in Minnesota,” it said in a statement. “We wish Jayson great success and we’re thrilled to help him achieve it by donating 500 dozen doughnuts when he restarts his business.”

pic.twitter.com/k7KcZG4bKM

— Krispy Kreme (@krispykreme) November 5, 2019

Gonzalez, citing the need for a larger vehicle, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise $20,000 to replace his 2008 Ford Focus, which he said can fit 110 dozen doughnuts.

“I would ideally be looking to use the funds to get a used sprinter van, large SUV, or truck to increase that capacity to 200-300 dozens,” he wrote on the GoFundMe. “I know a lot more people in Minnesota are going to want in on the weekly runs.”