Among those making the finals in the “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest was Caitlyn Vandervelde of Coventry, R.I., whose creation is called Grandma’s Blueberry Maple Donut. Vandervelde’s entry is described as a blueberry cake donut with maple icing topped with graham cracker crunch.

Another entry perhaps alludes to the culinary tastes of the late pop crooner Elvis Presley. “The King,” submitted by James Smith of Mount Vernon, N.Y. is a Bananas Foster-filled donut with peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts, the Dunkin’ Donuts press release said.

To learn more about this donut lineup – or to cast a vote for a favorite – please click here.

Each finalist wins $1,200 and will travel to Dunkin’ Donuts’ University in Braintree, where Ph.D’s in the field toil at the chain’s culinary skunkworks as they seek to pioneer new frontiers in breakfast science and hand-held cuisine.

“The winning donut will be selected based on the outcome of the bake-off and America’s online public voting,” Dunkin’ Donuts said in its press release. “The grand prize winner of the ‘Create Dunkin’s Next Donut’ contest will be unveiled on National Donut Day.”

As sinker buffs know, National Donut Day falls on June 5. The photo that tops this post was provided by the company.

Here is what has been posted so far. This appears to be one of the earliest postings on the matter from Craigslist:

****This really did happens guys..my friend’s dad owns a business in CP and the cops came by and gave him a flyer urging him to boycott DD!! It’s NUTS!****

THIS HAPPENED IN CROWN POINT INDIANA.

This has made me so mad that I’m writing to all of you.

One of the building secretaries has a nephew in the Armed Forces. He and a buddy were in town, in uniform, and went into the Crown Point,IN Dunkin Donuts for coffee. The owner waited on them and REFUSED to serve them. His exact words (according to her) were “you are killing my countrymen and I will not serve you”. They asked him to repeat what he said because they couldn’t believe what they’d heard and he repeated it exactly.

The boy’s dad was so enraged that he went in and confronted the owner who admitted that was exactly what he said and he meant it. Dad turned to the people in the restaurant and told them what was going on and NO ONE left.

They contacted the corporate office and were told that a letter reprimanding the owner was sent. BIG DEAL.

Just so you know, this man also owns the Dunkin Donut in Merrillville,IN by K-Mart. I, for one, will never stop at either store again – that includes the Crown Point Baskin-Robbins that is also owned by him!

SPREAD THE WORD IF YOU FEEL THAT THIS IS HORRIBLE!

This could be a bunch of bunk; however, as one who loves Dunkin Donuts, if there is any shred of truth to it, we as the Dunkin Donuts community need to jump all over it and express our disgust to the store owner and to Dunkin Donuts corporate.
Please leave a comment in protest both on this post (for Dunkin Donuts corporate) and for the store owners themselves (on the stores page).

Reminder, I’m not affiliated with Dunkin Donuts, just a lover of the brand and product like all of you.

The coffee giant says that e-mail messages are promising a free $25 gift card.

The company issued the following statement on it’s website:

“A fraudulent email message promising a Free $25 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card is being forwarded around the internet. Dunkin’ Donuts is not affiliated with these offers, does not sponsor nor endorse this activity and is unable to fulfill these offers. We apologize if you have received such an email with this fraudulent offer.”

Dunkin’ spokesman Andrew Mastrangelo tells the Boston Herald that this is “clearly fraudulent.”

The company has sent cease-and-desist orders to USA Research Forums, a Boynton Beach, Florida firm that Dunkin Donuts alleges is the culprit.

Mastrangelo says that the company wants to “make sure our customers are protected.”

A telephone number wasn’t available for USA Research Forums.

Source: Dunkin Donuts has a warning about an e-mail scam going around – Tampa Bay\’s 10

The company says “Dunkin’ Donuts is not affiliated with these offers, does not sponsor nor endorse this activity and is unable to fulfill these offers.”

Dunkin’ spokesman Andrew Mastrangelo tells the Boston Herald that this is “clearly fraudulent.”

The company has sent cease-and-desist orders to USA Research Forums, a Boynton Beach, Florida firm that Dunkin Donuts alleges is the culprit.

Read the full article: Dunkin Donuts warns about e-mail scam – WLNE-TV (ABC6)

Here is a snapshot of what spawn Dunkin Donuts aggressive long-term growth plan.

• What can we the best in the world at? The franchise model for sustained company growth.

• What drives our economic engine? Breakfast products, specifically Donuts and Coffee.

• What are we deeply passionate about? The Dunkin Donuts brand, the franchise model, our loyal customers and our Donuts and Coffee.

Whether they know it or not, Dunkin Donuts executives practiced Jim Collins hedgehog concept from Good to Great with their return to what they do better than anyone else.

As a result, Dunkin Donuts has finally decided it wants it wants to fight back against the likes of it’s competitors McDonald’s and Starbucks. For some time the corporation has allowed the brand become lethargic and comfortable with a marketplace that is passing them by.

All of that is about to change. Dunkin Donuts executives announced this week an aggressive plan to recapture the market space they once owned. According to the newly based Canton Corporation it plans to open 10,000 new stores by 2020, raising their store total to 15,000 worldwide.

With this new, aggressive plan comes a new Dunkin Donuts. It will still have the traditional pink and orange colors that are familiar to so many customers, but they will be introducing new color palates and new store layouts. The traditional large store with a single drive thru lane will be transformed into an efficient customer focused location. Stores will be equipped with two drive thru lanes in order to handle the busy morning rush to work, self service stations which allow the customer to “doctor” their coffee to their taste and there will be a major upgrade in product lines. Dunkin Donuts stores will begin carrying gourmet brownies, cookies, smoothies and other assorted items in an effort to raise their afternoon sales which pale in comparison to their $3.8 billion made annually before noon.

According to Dunkin Donuts there will be a greater focus on the Midwest and the South, greatly branching out from its Northeast stronghold. According to Dunkin Donuts executives the chain will focus on deploying franchises in Cincinnati, Nashville, Indianapolis and the Jacksonville, Florida. Currently there are stores sprinkled in these locations; however, it doesn’t compare to the 1,100 stores located in the greater-Boston area. According to Chris Reidy of the Boston Globe Dunkin Donuts has “one location for every 5,600 residents in that region.”

Dunkin Donuts executives are confident they accomplish this plan within the next ~15 years and thus claim back some of glory that Dunkin Donuts had in decades gone by.

The new Dunkin Donuts executives should be applauded for their aggressive plan to recapture territories throughout the United States. Their ability to think outside their box the way McDonald’s and Starbucks has by partnering with gas station chains, department stores and the like all suggest Dunkin Donuts is finally moving into 20th Century business practices. And the fact they are seeking help from good people within by asking forward-thinking franchise owners to pick up 10 to 25 new locations during this season of growth tells me they have a good chance of seeing this long term plan fulfilled.

Expansion of their brand, menu, franchise owners and territory all within the context of their core competency suggest they have the tools and resources to pull this plan off.

Let’s hope this hedgehog isn’t a dying dinosaur any longer.

Beginning today, all 5,000 of Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees will be required to participate in a government database program to verify that workers are here legally. The company was responding to customer concerns about illegal employees. Only 6,200 out of the nation’s 8 million employers participate in the screening program, by the way. (Hat tip: Polipundit) The open-borders crowd is up in arms, of course, because enforcing the law = profiling!

We would agree with Ms. Malkin on the subject and fully support Dunkin Donuts as they take a bold step forward in leading this charge.

“We wanted to make sure we were rolling out a quality program and that all of our franchisees could participate,” said Suzanne Parsons, Dunkin’ Donuts human resources director.

Some franchisees already offer their workers health insurance, but they’ve had trouble negotiating good deals because they are so small, she said.

Source: RedOrbit

Dunkin’ Donuts rang up $3.4 billion in sales last year, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. With it’s sales making up over two-thirds of Dunkin’ Brands’ revenue of $4.8 billion, Dunkin Donuts was widely considered to be the “crown jewel” of company. The new owners are planning rapid growth for the coffee and donuts chain in order to compete with the coffee-giant Starbucks Corp.

With extensive experience in the food service industry, the three buyout companies will each be equal investors in the company. According to a joint statement from Bain, Carlyle and Lee, the three firms intend to keep the current management in place, including Dunkin’ Brands Chief Excecutive Officer Jon L. Luther. Dunkin’ Brands Chief Executive Jon Luther joined the company three years ago from Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits, and is widely credited with boosting sales at the Dunkin’ Donuts chain with a broader food menu and new espresso-based drinks.

“This transaction provides for the future of Dunkin?��Ǩ�Ѣ Brands, its franchisees, restaurant employees and customers,” said Dunkin?��Ǩ�Ѣ Brands CEO Jon L. Luther. “With our new owners ready to support us in our growth efforts, a strong management team on board and continued excellent franchisee relationships, Dunkin?��Ǩ�Ѣ Brands is well-positioned for global expansion. We have high and growing market shares, innovative products in our restaurants and under development, and we operate in a market filled with growth opportunities. We are thrilled to have such experienced partners help us to leverage what Dunkin?��Ǩ�Ѣ Brands has put into place.”

Written by James Chen. Read more from him at: www.jameschen.blogspot.com

Source: Dunkin’ Brands Press Release and AP

I spoke with the PR Director for the AMA Boston chapter this morning and she informed they are having an event around Dunkin’ Donuts coming up next month. It looks like a pretty cool event with a great opportunity to hear about Dunkin’ Donuts marketing, PR and brand management directly from Dunkin’ Donuts themselves.

Here is the info on the event. I would love for someone in the Boston area to write a short synopsis of the event and what they thought of Dunkin’ Donuts struggles and future strategies. If someone from the Boston area would be willing to do this, DunkinDonutsTalk.com would be willing to pick up their attendance fee.

Date: October 19, 2005

Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Location: Fisher College, 118 Beacon St, Boston

Cost: $29 AMA members/ $59 non-members/ $19 students

Name of Event: Dunkin Donuts and Brand Management

Description: AMA Boston is proud to bring Ruth Swanson, Brand Manager of Sales Promotion for Dunkin’ Donuts Brand to speak about the perks of promoting a national brand as well as the challenges of selling coffee in a saturated market. In 1950, the first Dunkin’ Donuts shop opened in Quincy, Massachusetts. Dunkin’ Donuts licensed the first of many franchises in 1955. Today Dunkin’ Donuts is the world’s largest coffee and baked goods chain, serving more than 2.7 million customers per day at over 6,000 Dunkin’ Donuts worldwide. Hear first-hand how Dunkin’ Donuts went from a local coffee shop to a globally recognized brand.

Sponsor: AMA

Additional Info: http://www.amaboston.org/html/Events_50.htm