Krispy Kreme sustainability score: 33/100
Krispy Kreme is a US-based doughnut retailer and manufacturer founded in 1937, headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Operating across 30+ countries with company-owned stores, franchises, and manufacturing hubs, it generates approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
More about Krispy Kreme
The company competes in the quick-service restaurant and packaged food sectors.
Founded 1937Head office Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USStaff ~21,000Revenue ~$1.5BWebsite ↗
Krispy Kreme has published initial sustainability disclosures but lacks emissions reduction targets, Scope 3 reporting, and water data. Global emissions rose 8% from 2021–2022 with no reduction strategy. Carbon neutrality claims in UK/Ireland rely on offsets while company-wide emissions increase—a classic offset-greenwash move.
Krispy Kreme scores 33/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Krispy Kreme joint 595th of 934 companies scored, and joint 26th of 51 in Food Service / Restaurants.
What is Krispy Kreme doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Operations (6/10, 5/10). Weakest on Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain and Emissions Trajectory (1/10, 1/10).
Where Krispy Kreme lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations5/10No full Scope 1 and 2 figures worked out to the GHG Protocol.
- Emissions from its supply chain1/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling1/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is3/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water1/10No figures for its water use.
- Its climate targets1/10No emissions reduction targets.
- How openly it reports3/10No published sustainability data, or no one named as responsible for it.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Krispy Kreme's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Krispy Kreme's score based on?
10 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
30% of them were published by Krispy Kreme itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 5 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Krispy Kreme compare with other food service / restaurants companies?
Where Krispy Kreme sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 51 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Krispy Kreme is tied =26th of 51, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Food Service / Restaurants?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Krispy Kreme.
Honest Burgers has built a genuine supply chain intervention around regenerative beef but shields itself behind unverified claims.
See the breakdown →GAIL's is a rapidly expanding bakery chain with substantive supply-chain sustainability work—regenerative flour sourcing, waste minimisation, nature partnerships—but zero operational emissions disclosure and aggressive growth actively increasing its footprint.
See the breakdown →Compass Group reports Scope 1&2 emissions with KPMG-verified data but absolute emissions rose 6% in FY2024.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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