I remember when I was a kid, and the first Dunkin Donuts opened up in our neighborhood. Im guessing it was the late 70s. We did not have a car, and it opened right at the end of my short street, intersecting with a busier street in the City. In other words, within walking distance from my house. There wasn’t a lot of money for extras like donuts, so it was a truly special occasion when my mother would walk us up the street and treat us to a dozen donuts. The employee would pull out the flat, cardboard box and quickly and expertly assemble it by folding up the sides and sliding the tabs into the slots. Most of the time we were not paying attention to this phase of the adventure, as our eyes were scanning the five levels of fresh donuts from which we would choose our favorites. Sure, you could ask for all 12 donuts to be the same type, maybe chocolate or honey dipped. Or you could just ask for “assorted,” in which case the Dunkin employee would select the different varieties. But in order to make sure you got your favorite, you had to call out each donut variety one by one, and this is typically what we did.
Back then, of course, I was too young for coffee, and my mom was never much of a coffee drinker, so we would leave after our critical selections and make the short walk back home, carrying our treasure, and once back at the house we would ravenously dig into the box and extract a truly special treat. It’s a great childhood memory.
These days, most people go to Dunkin for a coffee. They’ve even dropped the “Donuts” from their official name and as of 2018 are now just “Dunkin.” A shift has taken place in both culture, and business strategy. According to an article in Fortune in 2017, the name change, and refocus is due to a healthier lifestyle amount consumers. While breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, the combination of carbs and sugar contained in a donut aren’t really the metabolic medicine that the doctor ordered.
But is there another motive in the shift? In Spain the franchise is already called Dunkin’ Coffee; Do the coffee products offer more options? All of us work with at least one coworker whose coffee order is 7 or 8 words long. Dunkin reported that there were over 15,000 different ways to order their coffee. Donuts, on the other hand are not as popular. These days, there are only around 20 varieties of donuts with some seasonal offerings. Dunkin sells more coffee than donuts, and while donuts aren’t growing, coffee still is. Perhaps most importantly, coffee is more profitable than donuts. As recently as the 80s, it wasn’t unusual to pay 50 cents for a cup of coffee. I can hear you laughing. A basic “regular” coffee is now about $3 and a Coolatta costs $4.99. You don’t want to do the math on how much you’re spending annually for that daily indulgence.
Other donut retailers may have failed to make the change in focus quickly enough.
Krispy Kreme has been making donuts for 80 years, since 1937. The 2 local stores in Dedham, MA and Cranston, RI (the last 2 from an original 8 stores in NE)closed in 2007, eliminating Krispy Kreme’s presence in the Northeast.
According to a 2021 article in mashed.com “In September 2018, Dunkin’ announced that it was dropping the Donuts from its name. The move represented a long-recognized reality — that Dunkin’ primarily operates as a beverage company that sells donuts, not as a donut company that includes coffees as a side. Reporting on the name change, NPR noted the percentage of sales beverages represented increased between 2013 and 2014 from 58 percent to 60 percent. Even in 2013, Dunkin’ Donuts CFO Paul Carbone, according to Forbes, told investors, “We are a beverage company.” “
The verdict is in on the change in strategy, reflected in the success Dunkin’ found in the last financial quarter of 2019, where, according to The Motley Fool, it had its largest growth period in six years. Dunkin’ credited its booming business to its new beverage offerings, not the donuts that built its base.
Hey, I like a good cup of coffee as much as the next guy. While I don’t typically indulge in the more fancy flavors, I rely on my morning cup of joe to help kickstart my day. I sometimes meet friends for coffee and it’s frequently an important part of morning business meetings. But I still long for the days of a family walking to the local coffee shop and picking out a special treat to be enjoyed around the breakfast table. A simple treat for a simpler time.
F Words that are not 4 Letters 