A screenshot shared online shows dozens upon dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnut boxes piled inside a dumpster behind a local store, many of them appearing full.
The image, posted on Reddit by DaZestyProfessor this week, captures what looks like hundreds of glazed doughnuts tossed in clear plastic bags and branded boxes, stacked high against the metal walls of the trash container.
The post, titled, "Local Krispy Kreme throws their unsold donuts into a dumpster outside at the end of the night. Instead of selling at lower prices. They'd rather throw them all away," prompted more than 18,000 upvotes and 3,000 remarks in two days as pundits debated food waste and store policy.
'Not unusual'
"Honestly, this is just really bad stock management," began one critic.
"Most places don't create this much waste in a single day. They would go bankrupt. I wonder what's going on with this location."
Another commentator said the practice is not unusual: "I worked at a Krispy Kreme in high school...
"Oh... 20 years ago and we did this back then ($6.21 for glazed doz, $7.28 assorted)," they wrote, adding that glazed doughnuts were often overproduced because of how they are made in large batches."
The self-described former employee described dough mixed in industrial machines and fed through a production line that can take hours to complete a batch, making it difficult to fine tune output.
"Also, donuts are made in batches. The batches are huge," the Redditor wrote.
"It takes like an hour for dough to make it through the machine and start coming off the line. A batch takes several hours. So there's not much granularity in how many to make."
The Redditor added that demand can swing sharply: "Some conventions are in town and 40 people show up and take two-dozen each, and all of a sudden you are hosed, so you tend to over make them."
'In the landfill'
Food waste in restaurants is widespread, according to industry analysis.
In a 2020 post titled, "Why Restaurants Must Throw Away Food (& What to Do About It)," Rafael Garrido wrote that, "Apparently, restaurants throw out nearly 85 percent of unused food," adding that, "With 31 percent of restaurant food supply finding shelter in the landfill, $162 billion worth of food goes with it," according to Lovvett.
Liability fears and logistics often complicate donation efforts. A 2021 article titled, "The Food Waste Issue in Restaurants," described a Dunkin' employee who showed, "a large number of unsold donuts and other pastries that were thrown out at the end of every night shift," according to St. Edward's University.
The article notes that, "Most states restrict grocery and fast food/restaurants from giving food away to prevent anyone from 'getting sick' or any other issues."
As debate continued online, pundits weighed whether discounting late night inventory or expanding donation programs could cut down on what many viewed as avoidable waste.