Dunkin' Donuts | History and definition of Dunkin 'Donuts | Dunkin 'Donuts Logo

Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts by William Rosenberg. It is now headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. Despite originally focusing on donuts and other baked goods, over half of Dunkin' Donuts business today is in coffee, making it more of a competitor to Starbucks as opposed to traditional competitors Krispy Kreme and Tim Hortons.

The company has more than 9,700 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide, which includes more than 6,700 Dunkin’ Donuts locations throughout the United States. This figure compares with the 15,011 stores of coffee chain Starbucks, whose baked goods are usually prepared out of shop. Nearly all of Dunkin' Donuts restaurant are franchisee owned and operated. Only 75 franchisees exist west of the Mississippi River, mostly in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. Within their Northeast home base, however, Dunkin' Donuts is particularly dominant and can be found in many gas stations, supermarkets, mall and airport food courts, and Wal-Mart stores across the region.

Dunkin' Donuts, along with Baskin-Robbins, is owned by Dunkin' Brands Inc. (previously known as Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants, when it was a part of Allied Domecq). Dunkin' Brands used to own the Togo's chain, but sold this in late 2007 to a private equity firm. Dunkin' Brands was owned by French beverage company, Pernod Ricard S.A. after it purchased Allied Domecq. They reached an agreement in December 2005 to sell the brand to a consortium of three private equity firms, Bain Capital Partners, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

In the U.S., Dunkin' Donuts is sometimes paired with Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops. While such locations usually have two counters set up for each chain (much like the Wendy's/Tim Hortons co-branded locations), depending on business that day both products can be bought at the same counter (usually the Dunkin' counter), much like the Yum! Brands stores.

The company's largest competitors include Krispy Kreme donuts and Starbucks, as well as small locally owned donut shops. In Canada and parts of the northern United States, Tim Hortons is a major competitor. Mister Donut had been its largest competitor in the United States before the company was bought by Dunkin' Donuts' parent company. The Mister Donut stores were rebranded as Dunkin' Donuts. Dunkin still controls the trademark rights to the Mister Donut trademark thru various new and amended older trademark registrations with the USPTO.

In 2005, Dunkin’ Donuts named three-time James Beard Award nominee Stan Frankenthaler as its first Executive Chef / Director of Culinary Development.

On December 10, 2008, Nigel Travis was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Dunkin’ Brands. He also assumed the role of Dunkin’ Donuts President at the end of 2009.

In 2008, Dunkin' Donuts opened its first "green" store, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The restaurant is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified and includes programs like worm casting, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and the usage of well water rather than potable water for all irrigation.

In 2010, Dunkin' Donuts' global system-wide sales were $6 billion.

In 2011, Dunkin' Donuts earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for the fifth year in a row.

May 4, 2011 Dunkin' Brands initiates $400 million IPO.

Dunkin' Donuts has more than 1,000 donut varieties along with other products.

• Baked Goods

Donuts

Fritters

crullers

biscuits

Munchkins

Bagels

Muffins

Danish pastry

Cookies

Brownies

Bagel Twists

• Breakfast sandwiches
• Hash browns
• Oven toasted items

Flatbread sandwiches

Wake-Up Wraps

• Coffee beverages

Bulk Coffee

Espresso, Cappuccino, and Lattes

Iced Coffee

Iced Lattes

Latte Lite Espresso

Turbo

• Other hot beverages

Hot chocolate

Tea

Vanilla Chai

Dunkaccino

• Cold beverages

Coolattas

Iced teas

In August 2007, Dunkin' Donuts announced plans to greatly reduce trans fats from its menu items by switching to a blend of palm, soybean, and cottonseed oils. In addition to 400 US stores that took part in a four-month blind test, the low trans fat menu is available nationwide since October 18, 2007. International locations are expected to begin using the new oil within the next few years.

Dunkin’ Donuts has launched DDSMART, a healthy new menu. The new items are reduced in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar or sodium by at least 25%.

Dunkin' Donuts is well-known for their advertising which have become popular culture references, especially in their home region of the northeastern United States. As well as being featured in many films, the company has a close relationship with major sports teams, such as the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots, and makes new commercials at the start of each team's season for promotions. Dunkin’ Donuts also sponsors many other professional sports teams, including the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays and others.

Dunkin' Donuts's slogan is "America Runs On Dunkin'," despite the fact that most of its stores are concentrated on the east coast, with only one west-coast location (Portland, Oregon). In March 2009, the company unveiled an alternate slogan, "You 'Kin Do It!", and launched a $100+ million ad campaign to promote it. The campaign, slated to run through 2009, includes radio, print and outdoor advertising, in addition to in-store point-of-purchase, special events, and sports marketing. Online marketing, often leveraging the Boston Red Sox and other New England icons, is also a significant campaign component.

In early 2007, Dunkin' Donuts b Score! that featured tear-off game pieces on their coffee cups.

Easy Bake Oven, which is a product of Hasbro, created product recipes based on Dunkin' Donuts products.

In 2007, Dunkin' created a promotional campaign centered around a coffee cup named Joe Dunkin. Videos were created for the Yankees and Mets in which he tried out for the team, the Giants in which he was the kicker, the Jets in which he played a Joe Namath parody named Off Broadway Joe Dunkin, and the Nets in which he played a potential draft pick who performed rap solos about Dunkin products.

In 2008, as a response to Starbucks closing their stores for three hours on February 26, Dunkin' Donuts locations offered a 99 cent latte, cappuccino, and espresso promotion from 1–10 pm.

In 2009 and 2010, there was a campaign for people to "Create Dunkin's Next Donut". In 2009, Jeff Hager of Hoover, Alabama was selected for his glazed sour cream cake donut, topped with chopped Heath Bar, titled "Toffee For Your Coffee". The 2010 winner was Rachel Davis of Sharon, Massachusetts, selected for “Monkey See Monkey Donut,” a bananas foster-filled donut with chocolate icing, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter shavings. Both won a check for $12,000 and their donuts were available in Dunkin’ Donuts locations for a limited time.

In 2010, Dunkin' Donuts launched a campaign called "Caught Cold" starring NBA All-Star spokesman Ray Allen, which rewarded Boston Celtics fans caught drinking Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee with game tickets.

In April 2011, Dunkin' Donuts launched a new donut and special cake in honor of Prince William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton in England on April 29, 2011.