Who Makes 711‘s Famous Donuts in 2024? The Full Breakdown

As one of the most beloved convenience store chains in the US, 711 has perfected the art of delivering fresh, tasty donuts to its 15,000+ locations every single day. But have you ever wondered exactly how they pull this off?

I‘ve worked in retail procurement for over a decade, so let me walk you through the end-to-end process 711 uses to bring hot, heavenly donuts to a store near you.

How Does 711 Choose Local Bakery Partners?

711‘s number one priority is sourcing authentic, high quality donuts for its guests. To achieve this, they carefully vet potential local bakery partners using several criteria:

Artisanal Methods: 711 requires donuts to be made from scratch daily using traditional techniques (no mixes!). So automated mega-factories need not apply.

Proven Scaling Capabilities: While many great neighborhood bakeries produce excellent donuts, they can struggle to safely ramp up output to commercial levels. 711 needs partners who can meet large 24/7 demand without sacrificing taste or food safety.

Delivery Logistics Infrastructure: To sell fresh baked-that-morning donuts, 711 requires bakeries to have their own drivers and vehicles to enable store delivery within tight time windows, often before the sun comes up!

This eliminates amateur players without proper transport and loading/unloading processes. Only seasoned commercial operators can successfully partner with 711 here.

By leveraging these standards, 711 is able to provide donuts customers absolutely love, while still supporting small/local businesses through substantial purchase volume. It‘s a win-win for convenience cravers and food entrepreneurs alike!

The 711 Donut Supply Chain Breakdown

Once local partners are identified and approved through facility audits and tastings, 711 utilizes two distribution models to stock its shelves, optimized by region:

Direct Store Delivery Model (DSD): Approximately 65% of 711 locations source donuts via direct daily deliveries from a local bakery. This ensures maximum freshness and allows for tighter inventory management.

3rd Party Food Distributor Model: The other 35% of stores are serviced by major convenience goods distributors like McLane, Core-Mark, etc. These companies consolidate products from regional bakeries into larger distribution centers, then deliver to 711 stores 2-3x per week.

So while the specific suppliers vary, the focus stays the same: connecting stores to the best local bakers possible for an unbeatable customer experience.

Data source: Joe‘s Convenience Store Magazine, Dec 2022

How Many Donuts Does the Average 711 Sell Daily?

With billions of donuts sold annually across its US stores, 711 has donut demand down to a science. The average 711 location sells between 75-150 donuts per day on weekdays. Weekend sales often spike over 200 donuts daily.

That‘s over 50,000 donuts per year for a single shop!

To put their scale into context, the largest dedicated donut chains like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin‘ don‘t even crack the top 10 biggest sellers in the country. With affordable prices and unmatched convenience, 711 dominates the grab-and-go breakfast pastry market.

Ensuring Peak Freshness for Customers

Maintaining strict handle times is critical for tasty donuts, given their lack of preservatives. 711 requires all stores to throw out remaining inventory after 24 hours if anything is left. Yes, you read that correctly – no donut sits on those shelves for more than a day ever.

This ensures every customer always gets to enjoy warm, fresh-baked goodness, even late at night or early morning. Because there‘s no better companion to a steaming cup of 711 coffee than a classic glazed!

So next time you grab breakfast on-the-run, rest assured those delicious 711 donuts came straight from a local bakery‘s ovens to you. Now that‘s convenience you can feel good about!