Americans not yet nuts for cronuts

August 06, 2013, 4:20 PM GMT+0

The "cronut", a croissant and donut hybrid, has taken New York by storm, but less than half of Americans are interested in trying one and even fewer would wait in line to do so

In May, the Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York introduced the cronut, a combination of croissant and donut. The deep-fried pastry, shaped like a donut, features thin layers of flaky crust and is covered in glaze. It immediately became a sensation, with customers waiting to hours to try one and imitations springing up all over the United States and in Japan, Australia and South Korea.

New research from YouGov shows that news of cronut has spread across the United States, but most aren't ready to queue up for one just yet.

Overall, 21% of Americans say they've heard of the cronut, while 68% say they have not and 11% are not sure.

Understandably, awareness at 26% is highest in the Northeast, the birthplace of the cronut. But even in the West, the region with the lowest awareness of the cronut, 19% say they've heard of the pastry hybrid.

While awareness of the cronut is distributed across the nation, Americans are not ready to leap up to buy one. Less than half of Americans (48%) would be interested in buying one if they got the chance and that number drops to 19% if there is any sort of wait in line. In fact, only 5% of would wait more than 10 minutes to get their hands on one.

Presently, the Dominique Ansel bakery, the original maker of the cronut (and holder of the copyright on the name "cronut"), only distribute them through their store in New York. The 48% of Americans interested in trying one, however, may not have to make a trip to the Big Apple. Food website Eater has made a list of bakeries from around the country that have created their own take on the pastry.

You can find the complete results here.

Image courtesy of Getty.

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