Which has the best doughnuts?
By Leanna Churchill
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD – With a new business in town, it brings a new debate: Krispy Kreme vs. Mel-O-Cream.
Krispy Kreme opened its doors Oct. 27. The store at 2301 W. Monroe St. is just down the street from Mel-O-Cream, which is in Fairhills Mall.
“I definitely would pick Krispy Kreme over Mel-O-Cream,” said student Cassy Abeln. “Nothing beats getting doughnuts right after they finish baking.”
Krispy Kreme is an international company with 1,003 locations, famous for its “Hot Now” signs, letting passers-by know fresh doughnuts are ready. Most Central Illinois residents knew that before the store opened the closest place for these hot doughnuts was Bloomington or St. Louis.
The first Krispy Kreme opened in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where they sold doughnuts to local grocery stores.
It would be 52 years before the first retail store opened in Greensboro, North Carolina. The first international store came along in 2001, outside of Toronto, Canada.
Student Bryce Combs said he prefers Mel-O-Cream because “they are delicious and the icing is better than the competitor.”
Mel-O-Cream, a local business, opened in Springfield in 1932, growing to 14 franchise shops about 50 years later in 1980.
In order to be a mass wholesaler, Mel-O-Cream added pre-made frozen dough to production to keep up with demand. In 1996, they introduced a line of pre-fried doughnuts, which are made and frozen to seal in the freshness till ready to thaw and eat.
Today, Mel-O-Cream has four stores in Springfield and one in Lincoln, but it has expanded mostly to a wholesale company in the Midwest.
Courtney Turnbull, another Lincoln Land student, said she does not eat at either of the stores very often but if she had to choose, she would pick Krispy Kreme because people say they have the fresher doughnuts.
The local business would never be able to compete on a national level for best doughnut, but to the Springfield natives, it is a taste of home when they return to the area.
Alexis Meridith, who attends Olivet University, said she enjoys getting to come home and have Mel-O-Cream doughnuts.
“My dad and I would always stop and get some if we were out in the morning,” Meridith said. “Now, if he brings them when he visits, I get excited.”
Although there has always been disagreement on what kind of doughnuts are the best, the proximity of these locations will only be icing on top of the doughnut debate.
Leanna Churchill can be reached at [email protected].
