The Malaysian Donut War

Malaysia has seen a recent surge of activity in the “War of the Donuts” that sparked within the space of a few years ago.

The global Dunkin Donuts empire has been around for a long time and is to a certain extent, the pioneer who introduced this claimed American-born craze to Malaysia which for years was the leader in a pack of none, ahead of some non-existent competition, and although the quality of their donuts seemed to deteriorate in time, there were no rivals to worry about. Well not until recently that is.

This ring-shaped-dough royal rumble sees the likes of J.Co Donuts, Big Apple Donuts and Dunkin Donuts slug it out with minnows like Donut Empire (Of Singaporean origins) and the giant donut force that is Krispy Kreme which recently made its giant footprint in Malaysia.

But among these names, which one is the best? Well here’s what we think.

Dunkin Donuts



As mentioned earlier, they were the ones responsible for it all. Without them, Malaysia probably wouldn’t have been introduced to the commercial donuts the Dunkin way. They had outlets almost everywhere in Malaysia, serving freshly baked Donuts to impatient Donuteers. (we created that word ourselves). Unfortunately, as years went by, their quality took a turn for the worse as their donuts started becoming stale, dry, tasteless and soon after, only a handful of Dunkin Donut faithfuls were left. But to their credit, they’ve revamped, stuck with their guns, offered more than just Donuts and slightly regained their fame. Unfortunately for them though, the donut world was soon to be taken by storm by a host of rivals.

J.Co Donuts



Not many people know this (because not many bother to find out), but J.Co Donuts are of Indonesian origin and were formed in 2005. They were responsible for the resurgence of the donut craze in Malaysia which seemed to be dwindling at a time where Dunkin Donuts Malaysia no longer made the same great tasting donuts it once did. Their presence was accepted extremely well by the public with queues outside J.Co outlets stretching as far as the eye could see, all waiting to get their hands on some revolutionarily good tasting donuts.

The variations offered were unlike anything the public had associated with Donuts before.

Among some of the highlights were the JCrown Oreo (Oreo coated Donut), Da Vin Cheez (Cheesed-up donut with garlic sprinkles…our personal favourite), Coco Loco (Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate) and the Why Nut (White chocolate topped, peanut butter filled).

Their Donuts offered an unfamiliar yet fabulous texture that arguably made it the best-textured donuts of the lot. Also, their variations were original creations and consistently tasted good.

Big Apple Donuts



Did you know that although the Big Apple is another term for New York, which is in America, Big Apple donuts are a Malaysian born Donumenon (Donut Phenomenon)!

You’d be forgiven to confuse Big Apple and J.Co’s Donuts as they are really, really similar in every sense. So much so that there was a legal case between the 2 companies, of which Big Apple were accused of somewhat “copying” J.Co’s concept. How that turned out we’re not too sure.

Anyway, Big Apple Donuts cashed in on the revitalized Donut craze caused by J.Co Donuts and immediately became a direct competitor in terms of pricing and variety, and they were doing a pretty good job… So good a job that there was very little to choose between the two. Even their donut naming incorporated the same pun names made famous my J.Co’s!
However, for us, we feel J.Co has the edge in this duel for their originality and also because their Donuts do taste that wee-bit better.

Krispy Kreme



The World Famous U.S based Krispy Kreme Donuts. Its American origin offers enough credibility to make it commercially successful worldwide and there’s no doubt that their Glazed Donuts are arguably the best in the world. Their consistent quality stretches all the way to Hong Kong, where they taste just as good as they do in the US and recently, they’ve hopefully carried their reputation along with them to Malaysian shopping malls (At the moment it’s just Midvalley and Times Square).

Krispy Kreme donuts are of a totally different variety than that of our 2 earlier mentioned competitors. Unfortunately for us, we’ve tried them, and they really don’t seem to live up to the hype that was created by word of mouth prior to their arrival. Their glazed donuts are still good, but are on the verge of being diabetic. The rest of their selections look dull and well, don’t taste all that good. They can only hope that their signature glazed donuts save their reputation here because honestly, their others won’t.

Donut Empire



The Singaporean based Donut Empire remains relatively unknown to Malaysians and there isn’t much to be said about them. They seem to want to do what Big Apple did to J.Co’s, which is simply providing another option of an already successful concept to consumers, albeit in a slightly different packaging and name. Unfortunately, their prices match that of their competitors, but their Donuts don’t.

The verdict?
Well we’re going to have to give it up for J.Co’s Donuts for simply making great tasting donuts and for starting the donut revolution. The mighty Krispy Kreme could’ve proven a worthy opponent if not for it’s poor showing. However, much respect has to be given to Dunkin Donuts for being the “pioneer”, and for continuing to survive up till today.

So much for Donuts, and we’re sure there will be those who agree and disagree with out verdict…

Perhaps we’ll take a look at the Malaysian Burger War next time round =)

by the committee of Fashion Republik