‘The Doughnut Guy’ Returns: Krispy Kreme Reverses Course On Reselling Crackdown

After online backlash to their decision Monday to stop a Minnesota college student from reselling their doughnuts, Krispy Kreme has officially reversed course.

In a Twitter post, the company announced that they will no longer prevent 21-year-old Jayson Gonzalez from reselling their doughnuts but they will also be helping him in the interest of helping pay for his tuition.

“Today, we reached out to Jayson to express our appreciation for his love of Krispy Kreme and admiration for his entrepreneurial spirit,” the post began. “We are going to help him achieve his goals, which include being debt-free when he graduates in 2021, in part by selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.”

The post explained the company’s initial action as a temporary measure to ensure both “product quality and regulatory compliance” in Gonzalez’s operation, further explaining that they were concerned for the quality of the doughnuts given how far they had to travel.

Gonzalez has drawn media interest for driving hundreds of miles from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area to the nearest Krispy Kreme in Clive, Iowa, to buy large quantities of doughnuts and resell them in the Twin Cities. Gonzalez, who had made 19 trips to Clive, used the money to help pay for his education at Metropolitan State University, where he is a senior studying accounting.

“I am pumped to announce that I will be able to continue the business soon, and have the support of Krispy Kreme,” Gonzalez said on his Facebook page, Krispy Kreme Minnesota. “They want to ensure I become an independent operator and make sure the brand is represented well.”

“We wish Jayson great success and we’re thrilled to help him achieve it by donating 500 dozen doughnuts when he re-starts his business,” Krispy Kreme’s statement concluded.

The North Carolina-based chain, which is owned by JAB Holding Company, has over 1,000 locations. Minnesota has not had a Krispy Kreme location in 11 years.