A couple of days ago, I received an email I thought was spam. If not for the email application’s “message preview panel” feature, I would have deleted it at once and thrown away the chance for an unexpected yummy treat!

In the midst of a frantic photo-editing session for the Lasang Pinoy 15 Roundup, I could not help but reply immediately with sheer excitement [YES, YES, YES!] to the foodie treat op that was presented to me. My mouth watered as I wrote my reply. It even made me walk afterwards to the convenience store just outside the village gates to satisfy the sudden craving for a sugar rush!

This morning, Blooey Singson of Press Incorporated, the PR firm for Krispy Kreme and Real American Doughnut Co. Inc. in the Philippines, sent me a message that the “drops” for the free 100,000 Original Glazed doughnuts starts today.

And at 3:00pm, the guard came up with two stacks of the familiar polka-dotted white flat boxes. Those familiar pasabulong boxes which family and friends from the US would gently handle like a newborn baby as they come out of the arrival area of the international airport.

In fact, my first encounter with these melt-in-your-mouth treats was way back in 1998 when I bumped [literally!] into a cousin of mine whom I haven’t seen for fourteen years, in Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, who was then transiting from New York enroute to Manila. He practically swore at me before recognizing who it was that squashed the boxes he was so carefully carrying and guarding with all his life! LOL!

So, what can Lafang say about the opportunity for a “first bite” into this much-talked about doughnut?

First of all, I love the name! I don’t know but it just sounds so yummy! After taking photos of the signature Original Glazed doughnuts in their boxes, I transferred a few pieces onto a plate for more tight shots. I noticed that while using my bare hands to do this, they felt really soft and yet firm, the glazing stayed perfect and didn’t crumble at all!

As for the taste: simply wonderful! The pastry is smooth, creamy and really melts in your mouth! A perfect sweet ending to an afternoon of home-made vegetable, tuna, and anchovies pizza prepared by none other than Yaya SisterVi!

So, what’s a “Krispy Kreme?” When people talk about a Krispy Kreme doughnut, they usually refer to that signature treat: the Original Glazed, made from a “secret” recipe dating back to the 1930’s that have sustained them for years.

Here’s the release that came with the yummy doughnuts:

THE HOT LIGHT IS ON IN MANILA!

All across America, only one sign can trigger an ecstatic wave of reaction from everyone who sees it: Krispy Kreme signature neon red Hot Doughnuts Now sign. As soon as the HOT light fires up, it only means one thing: it’s time for the luscious Krispy Kreme Original Hot Glazed doughnut.

The entry of Krispy Kreme to the Philippines via the Max’s Group of Companies almost completes the line-up of major international fast food chains that are already operating in the country. Talks of Krispy Kreme coming were rife a couple of years ago and it got everyone who knew the brand excited. Known for its melt-in-the-mouth Hot Original Glazed doughnut, Krispy Kreme sets pandemonium and gets people forming long lines at every store they opened in – the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and recently in Hong Kong.

While several Filipino companies worked to bring Krispy Kreme to the country, it was probably Max’s reputation as a well-respected, family-owned entity that got the nod of the North Carolina-based mother company.

‘’It took us years to hatch this and we are happy that they decided on us. Perhaps it’s because our companies share the same values, the same long tradition and we are in the food business. They were put up in 1937, Max’s was established in 1945. We treat our chicken like they do with their doughnuts - complicated, but with tender loving care,’’ beams Jim T. Fuentebella, chairman of the Real American Doughnut Co. Inc., the Philippine franchise holder of Krispy Kreme.

Much excitement surrounds the opening of a Krispy Kreme store, as long queues of excited customers traditionally wait in line for a first taste of a Krispy Kreme made right where they can see it. Whenever a Krispy Kreme outlet opens, it is always an event. People literally go to great lengths to get their hands on this sweet treat.

In the US, Krispy Kreme openings are sporting events, with people camping out just to be the first in line. In Springfield, Missouri, a customer camped out for 12 days outside the store. Just recently, in June 2006, when a 24-hour Krispy Kreme drive thru opened in the Fountain Gate Shopping Center in Melbourne, Australia, people waited three days for the opening, creating a line over 2 km long, a line that stayed at 500 metres for weeks after the opening.

But it’s not just an opening day phenomenon. Long lines are not an unusual sight inside the store and snaking around it, with customers swooning from the wafting aroma of cooking doughnuts as they eagerly wait for the HOT sign to light up. At highway outlets, the HOT sign is known to cause traffic, with motorists abandoning their cars at the roadside, unable to resist getting a box of doughnuts to bring home.

ASIAN MODEL

In the US, most stores are constructed with a long window between the customer area and the kitchen allowing the patrons to watch the operation of the doughnut making machines, which automatically produce rings of dough, yeast raise, bake, deep-fry, flip, and glaze the doughnuts. These stores have neon “HOT” signs to indicate when fresh hot doughnuts are available.

But while those familiar with Krispy Kreme would remember it more for its delicious doughnuts than the in-store ambience, the Philippine stores will take after the Asian business model that the mother company had started in its Korea stores. Instead of the brightly-lit stores and the tiled floors like the ones in the US, the Asian stores boast of laminated floors, cove lights and everything else that evokes warmth and coziness.

‘’One thing that the mother company also had to understand about the Philippine market is that doughnuts here are round-the-clock treats, and not just a breakfast item like in the West. It is something that is shared among family and friends, a treat, a favorite pasalubong to bring home. That is why the stores have to be more cozy and gear it towards being a dining place for the family and the barkada,’’ explains Carolyn T. Salud, Real American Doughnut president.

But the doughnut theater will certainly be present in all Philippine stores, Salud adds. Right before the people’s eyes, hot doughnuts will be made at a rate of one to two thousand dozens a day. The taste, on the other hand, will be exactly how Krispy Kreme is in other countries. The company has set up a huge commissary to accommodate ingredients which are imported and are largely untouched by human hands until they are set for the oven. ‘’We assure you that everything will be the same, the taste, the experience,’’ Fuentebella says.

Here in Manila, they promise to stir up enough interest with the doughnut drops that they will conduct before the store opens on November 30. About 100,000 doughnuts will be sampled and ‘’dropped’’ in various offices, companies, schools and media outfits to give people a sneak peek of what everyone in the US has been raving about.

Moreover, Krispy Kreme will give unbelievable treats (such as one year supply of doughnuts!) to the lucky ones who will be in line before their The Fort store opens. In the US, organizations, fraternities and school associations are known to have lined up for days before an opening to avail of these treats and share them among members.

HERE TO STAY

Finally, the long wait is over for Filipinos who have been bringing home pasalubong boxes of Krispy Kremes from international trips. No need to go halfway around the world, carry a box of Krispy Kremes through airport security, cradle it on your lap and endlessly reheat it just to bring home a bite of the glazed goodness of America’s most famous doughnut for your loved ones. Now, you can get your own steamy doughnut or a dozen, to share fresh and hot off the line.

The perfect treat to share among family and friends, Krispy Kreme is definitely a welcome addition to the selection available on the market to Filipino sweet tooth. With the Hot Light on and at least 30 stores set to open in the next five years, there is little doubt that doughnuts will never be the same for Filipinos again.

Apart from the signature Original Glazed, Krispy Kreme will also offer other varieties of doughnuts like New York Cheesecake, Caramel Kreme Crunch, Glazed Raspberry Filled, Glazed Chocolate Cake, Powdered Strawberry Filled, and more.

The hand-carried doughnut era is about to end as Krispy Kreme, America’s most loved doughnut brand, opens its first Philippine store on the 30^th of November, at the City Center in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

So, will you be lining up before the November 30 opening?

P.S.

My good-friend-orfanage-brother and 2006 Catholic Mass Media Awardee for Best Opinion Column, Bum Tenorio, just arrived from work and immediately rushed to gobble up the doughnuts [not just one, but two on both hands!], snobbing the seafood dinner also graciously prepared by Yaya SisterVi! His reaction: “Oh my God! This is a taste of heaven! I have been craving for these for the longest time! There is a God . . .”

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