Dunkin’ Donuts emerges from no-frills shell, looks westward for growth
Dunkin’ Donuts, the morning destination for millions of Northeastern commuters seeking a quick fix of caffeine and pick-me-up calories, is ramping up for westward growth and revamping its menu with heartier fare, more espresso beverages and an iced coffee energy drink.
While boasting that its espresso launch has boosted its competitive position against Starbucks, the comparatively no-frills Dunkin’ Donuts says it is content to maintain distance from the upscale Seattle coffee giant and stick to its workaday, on-the-go niche.
Nevertheless, Dunkin’ Donuts is following Starbucks’ lead by experimenting with WiFi access in a few Chicago shops and also is considering bringing music to more locations, said Jon Luther, the chain’s chief executive.
But there is no broad campaign encouraging customers to linger awhile and drink in the atmosphere of Dunkin’ Donuts’ pink and orange-themed shops. And there are no plans to switch from Dunkin’s “small-medium-large” cup size hierarchy to something akin to Starbucks’ oft-mocked sizes of tall, grande and venti.
“People say you’re taking on Starbucks, but we’re really not,” Luther told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “All we want to do is share some space with the coffee consumer.”
But with another rival, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, coming off a disastrous year that saw its share price drop by two-thirds, Dunkin’ Donuts is entering 2005 with ambitious plans and some swagger.
I don’t know if you guys know this, but Dunkin is (was) owned by Yoshinoya (the beef bowl shop.) Either that, or they had one huge tie-up, because Dunkin used to be here in Japan as well. They seem to have disappeared, leaving the inferior Mr. Donuts as the only place for a simulacrum of a donut.
I had the strangest experience once, as I was sent by an employer to teach a short English course “at Yoshinoya,” or so I thought. The building was Yoshinoya’s HQ in Shinjuku, but, when I got to the basement where the course was to be held, all of my students (Japanese) were wearing Dunkin manager uniforms. Their supervisor came in and told me that they were going to be overseas trainees in the U.S.
The odd thing was, they had a complete U.S. Dunkin shop set up in the basement, and we did a lot of activities there, like customer complaints, etc. I thought I’d get free donuts (or at least coffee,) but it was a no-go.
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http://funabashing.blogspot.com
no wonder Americans are so fat..they love those calorie-laden donuts too much
Thanks for this site. It is quite interesting.
Whenever I visit the Chicago area and New York City, I am genuinely amazed with how many Dunkin’ Donuts locations exist. There is, seemingly, at least one at every busy corner. Folks in these regions must consume a lot of doughnuts.
I am in Northern California, and here, we have a few Krispy Kreme locations, but most of our doughnut shops are independent, non-chain bakeries. It’s just my opinion, but I find that the chain-baked products such as Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts are overly sweet and simply unappealing unless you’re a sugar-craving individual.
I can see why the annual top ten cities in terms of individual fitness are always on the west coast. For you folks in the Midwest and the East Coast … too many doughnuts and not enough exercise!
i would just like to say that i grew up on connecticut and dunkin’ donuts is something i took for granted until i moved to wisconsin, where there seems to be none. whenever i visit ct, thats on the list of things to do while i’m here. get myself a chocolate glazed donut, because i mean honestly, i havent found my favorite donut done better anywhere else
i prefer croquetas to donuts…..so, lets fuck dunkin?Ǭ¥donuts, supersize this shit.
I LOVE the original Dunkin’ Donut with the lil “handle” for it to be dunked… hence the name! I wanna know why it’s been taken off the menu of most of the outlets on this planet?! Hmmm? Any explanations?
The last time I saw it, and ate half a dozen of them, I chanced upon it while waiting for a train at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, station to get on to Singapore. I was bored and hungry and wouldn’t even realise it had I not seen that tiny sign on top of a counter at their corner eatery!! It’s a really tiny eatery… only a counter with 5 chairs. I bought all the 6 dunkin donuts!! heheheh…
Anyway, besides the original, my all-time fave is still the Double Chocolate Glazed one!! Then, comes the bite-sized watchamacallits, u know, the holes… They come in 8 flavours.
I’m not really a fan of lemons, but I’ve gotta say, I haven’t tasted any other donut places that could recreate Dunkin’ Donuts’ Lemon Glazed Donuts and that goes for the filling in their Jam Donuts too!!!! Somehow, the lemon glaze tastes natural & not at all sugary like all the fakes!! How do they do it?!
Once again, BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL DUNKIN’ DONUT… pleeeease?
~peace~
xanith
I would really appreciate it if Dunkin D’s went back to their original box format. The flat box Krispy Kreme imitation is really lame and DD’s should be ashamed. Does anyone else agree or have I lost it completely?
I totally agree. I loved the old box, sure your donuts may have gotten frosting on one another, but hey, who doesn’t like chocolate frosting on their powdered sugar donut right?!
Hi Scott. Like the Wisconsin writer above, I too grew up in CT, and now that I live in L.A. I sorely miss DD. For one thing, there are very few drive-through opps for coffee in California — and there have been drive-throughs at DD, within a mile of my house, since I was probably 10 years old.
For another, on-the-go coffee in California is more expensive than Dunkin, and also far too strong. And nobody really rallies emotionally around Starbucks or The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf as they do around a DD excursion. The good ole pink and orange is almost like an additional family member for us — we’re so accustomed to an aunt or uncle coming by unannounced with a little cardboard tray of coffee and some Munchkins.
Anyway – I like your blog – will keep looking at it. Earlier this week I returned from my holiday trip home and one of the first things I posted was that L.A. sucks because there isn’t a Dunkin Donuts!
I look forward to them coming in this direction, and I will throw my dollars behind them. I, for one, have no real use for pretentious overpriced cappucinos where a simple Original Blend will do.
I wonder why it is that no matter where you are in the country, even if it is at a Dunkin Donuts shop in say, Michigan, the coffee is just not the same.
They just dont know what the fuck they are doing in these other branches. If you want a REAL Dunkin Donuts coffee experience come to Boston and New England.
Plus all of you people who posted a comment in here have no idea, it is not about the donuts it is about the COFFEE!
You fools better recognize!
Check it:
http://www.dunkindonutstalk.com/2004/12/its-not-about-doughnuts.php
hey i love dinkin donuts, this ia a clossic blog, very entertaining. I have a friend starting one, my roomate, it is starting to get pretty interesting, you should check it out.
Hi,
Scott i like your blog but i noticed some things about your adsense. Is there a way i can maybe email you about it?
James – You can email me directly at scott@scottallenlewis.com.
Compared to Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts is horrible.
damn…gotta bust out them jelly donuts then its all good…
caffeine in the morning, more an espresso machine in the office. donuts. it could be worse!
Sometime ago, may be ‘96, I was sitting with a mate in the doorway of Dunkin’ Donuts near to Picadilly Circus waiting for the night bus back home after quite a few shandy’s. The bloke who had just finished his shift startled us when he opened the door to leave and lock up but we amazed when he gave us a carrier bag full of donuts. When the bus arrived we sat on the top deck and became everyone best mate sharing out the donuts. What a moment.
I’m a dunkin’ donuts fan, and was so diappointed when the last dunkin’ donuts outlet in singapore shut down some years back. I have tried out the dunkin’ donuts in Malaysia on some occassions, but really, the donuts taste nothing like the real stuff…
oh, and did i mention that dunkin’ donuts was the only donut outlet we had – there’s no krispy kreme, no donut king.. nothing… how sad is that.
i like krispy kreme better
proponentofreason.blogspot.com
nice blog.
come and see mine sometime:
http://www.thechroniclesofalecforlorn.blogspot.com
yours unmentionably,
Lady Margarine
Hey,I do agree with what you mention I’ve been liken dunkin donuts when I’m young but it wasn’t as the result as Anoymous said, I till skinny….. haha, don’t care of those sarcastic comment, you are picking up your good work, if you’re free, please come to visit my blog, I’ll be one of your fans too…… -!<
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Chris A, you a very wise indeed. While the donuts are delicious, the true appeal of DD in the Northeast is its coffee. It’s the coffee, people! DD coffee cannot be beat.
First of all, the reasons I love DD are because there is no WiFi, the coffee cup sizes are not in a different language, and you can still order your coffee like a normal person without using a different language to order your coffee with milk and sugar. The bottom line is that DD has no pretention, they have great coffee, and they have fabulous doughnuts.
Second of all, to those of you criticizing America, you can shove your croquetas up your ass.
Ok, ok, is it about the coffee? As someone who has traveled, I can really say that DD donuts are too sweet, pre-Japan I thought they were pretty good, however what happened to the original, less preservatives and the like? When I compared DD to Mister Donut, Mister Donut struck my palet fancy. The cream tasted like cream without the loaded sugar.
The DD dunuts seemed dry? I can honestly say, I feel in love with Mr. Donut, the cake donut and the cream filled.
I know Japan changes some of the menus to gear more towards the Japanese tastes when the franchises come here, but I think it would be great if the US adapted and tried out some of the changes as well.
COFFEE: The whipped topping is without sugar in Japan, it is just lovely especially when you have an already sweet MOCHA, in the US the add vanilla syrup to the Starbucks whipped topping.
I know this is getting off topic, but how about chocolate, Hersheys VS Lotte or Godiva, my teeth hurt after biting on a Hersheys, although I loved them as a child, as I got older Godiva was less sweet.
What are you views on this?
http://www.sheunlimited.com
You are right about Chocolate.
The UK, Switzerland and pretty much all of Europe has better chocolate than the US.
MMM…forbidden doughnut… I had a doughnut today for the first time in MONTHS! Unfortunatly, it was a Krispy Kreme. Utah needs DD except for the fact that there are demographically much fewer coffee drinkers here.
I dream of Boston Kremes from my high school days in MA. Everytime I go back, I binge on them… calories be damned!
totally Atkins friendly !
I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and they still had Drunken Donuts (as I fondly remember them being called) up until I left in 1997 – *PLEASE* tell me they aren’t all gone from there!
I now live outside of Tacoma, WA – and there ain’t a decent donut to be had *ANYWHERE* out here since they shut down all the DDs…
<:^(
Id really like dunkin donuts to come back to singapore….
Where are all the Dunkin’ Donuts in the state of California? Sombody save me please, it will never be Starbucks for me.
desperate for a real cup of joe
‘Hurrah’ for DD. Getting legal with illegals. You are to be commended. If more businesses obeyed the law as you do, we would not have an illegal problem. Keep up the delicious work!
i would really like dunkin donuts to be back in singapore!
dunkin donuts going westward? oh come on… come back east! we miss them in singapore SO MUCH.
i’m craving for them now, in fact.
sigh. and like purpledusk said – there aren’t any alternatives here. this is so saddddd.
Yes…it isn’t about the donuts, it’s all about the coffee! The flavor is unmatched anywhere. I grew up in Massachusetts and live in southern California. I just love going back to visit and walking into a Dunkies shop and being enveloped by that wonderful aroma! Ahh! I get the coffee shipped to me and make it at home…but it’s just not the same. FYI…one of the things that makes DD’s coffee so great is that they use light cream. Light cream does not exist on the west coast. It jumps from half & half to whipping cream. I don’t know why, and haven’t been able to get an answer from some experts on-line. I just want a plain cup of pure Original Blend…not a designer $4.00 flavored concoction.
I like the old box, but one thing I did was put a sav-a-wrap around EACH DONUT, so the frostings and sugars wouldn’t blemish their neighbors. We used to put old coffee in the mop bucket to give a nice shine to the floor. We also put coffee in the chocolate frosting. I loved the place, now it’s gone – Boulder, Colorado.
I’d really like Dunkin Donuts to stay back East where they belong. We have much better coffee in the West Coast and don’t really need donuts. If East Coast transplants want their Dunkin Donuts, have it Fed Exed. Keep Northern California Dunkin Donuts free!
Ya know what, that was a closed minded thing to say, and I don’t know how you got there, even if you were born there, I wish some people would take a good look at themselves and take their “I’m Better Than You’ nametags off, and yes, I’m aiming specifically at sfliberal, and whoever that was that said I like Krispy Kreme better. As to your having better coffee in Northern California, that is false. That same coffee is available anywhere, but it’s mainly reserved for hooty-toot people, or people who wanna act like they’re hooty-toot. I appreciate the negative. It reaffirms my positive. We real Dunkin’ Donuts Diehards want it plain and simple. We know that the hooty-toot coffee and the Wi-Fi and the demise of the ORIGINAL DUNKIN’ DONUT are BAD things for US. Hey, they stopped making the ORIGINAL DUNKIN’ DONUT because it costs too much to make. Would you believe that? And HAND CUTTING? I worked in DD in Albuquerque, and they just ran the yeast dough through this roller/cutter ‘thing’ and they were all cut. No intimacy, no skill, no brainer. That, to me, is a bunch of BS. And that stupid roller ‘thing’ costs alot more than making a million ORIGINAL DUNKIN’ DONUTS. We need to RALLY FOR ITS RETURN!!!! Or I’m gonna go and make them myself!!!! You WATCH!!!!! I’M GONNA!!!! So, sue me, whoever took over Dunkin’ Donuts and messed it up….. See how far you get….
Never have I entered a Peet’s Coffee and Tea store feeling “hooty-tooty”. I love the ambiance of Peet’s and love the bold flavor of their coffee. And, yes, I do like Wi-Fi for my Mac. Sorry, the ambiance of a brightly lit donut shop doesn’t do it for me or the weak coffee. People in San Francisco and Seattle know coffee and know that a coffee house is a place to enjoy a great latte, in very comfortable surroundings while reading a book. It’s a cultural pastime just as it is in Europe. I know East Coast people are always too in a rush to stop and enjoy the finer things in life. They can do that on the East Coast if they want. Go research the very stringent coffeebean selection and you will understand why Peatnicks like me are so devoted, just as you Dunkin Donutholes are for Dunkin Donuts. Call us “hooty tooty” if it makes your insecurity feel better or blame it on cultural differences but, trust me, you will never see the success of Dunkin Donuts on the East Coast and I’m sure Dunkin Donuts execs are well aware of that. If you’re an East Coast transplant, just consider your East Coast visits as a way to connect with your beloved Dunkin Donuts chain and the fine fall foilage. Cherish difference and respect the wishes of natives.
Good news to Dunkin’ Donuts lovers in Singapore!
But their fresh and crispy donuts online, free delivery!
Click on the link below for details : D
http://www.dunkindonuts.zlhub.com/
Peet’s took over THE SNOTTIEST coffee/bakery chain in new england, Au Bon Pain and still Dunkin Donuts pulls in more business than Peet’s in the bay state. smells pretty, “hooty-tooty” to me. SFliberal’s pretty closed-minded and ignorant for someone with such a free-spirited name. i guess you’d like all of the illegals in california to pack up and move back to mexico where they can enjoy cojeta in their coffee and leave the white milk to the pansy, liberal, bay area milquetoasts who feel the need to shove everyone with a differing opinion, back to their home turf.
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hmm… strange.