WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Corp. is expanding its house blend coffee outside its retail shops, introducing signature packaged ground coffee into select Sam’s Club locations throughout the Southeast. The coffee will be exclusively available in 40-oz packages at participating Sam's Clubs.

“Making Krispy Kreme coffee available to Sam’s Club members expands business and consumer access to our great tasting coffee for home or office use,” said Brad Wall, senior vice-president of supply chain and off-premise operations for Krispy Kreme. “In addition to drip coffee and specialty coffee drinks, our retail shops currently sell 12-oz ground bags for home brewing. Launching a new, exclusive coffee pack-size at Sam’s Club extends our brand to millions of families and businesses, and adds convenience to our loyal brand consumers. The club channel is a natural extension for the brand.”

To help grow its coffee business, Krispy Kreme said it has signed a licensing agreement with Brand Central L.L.C. for the licensee acquisition, development and manufacturing of new coffee products for the wholesale club channel and its retail shops.

“These new initiatives are part of our ongoing strategic efforts to significantly build awareness and equity in our coffee program through trial and sales of our existing products in new channels,” Mr. Wall said. 

The new 40-oz bagged coffee, roasted and manufactured by S&D Coffee, will feature Krispy Kreme’s packaging that showcases its bowtie logo and color-coded graphics to help consumers identify their preferred blend. Krispy Kreme will support the launch of the new 40-oz bags at Sam’s Club with social media and in-club coffee sampling opportunities.

Krispy Kreme joins the growing list of bakery cafes and donut shops that offer their coffee at retail. Starbucks Coffee Co. has offered its coffee at retail since 1998, and Dunkin’ Donuts has been in the market since 2007. McDonald’s Corp. also began selling ground coffee last fall, but only in Canada. The company has not indicated any plans to expand the product launch to the United States.