RISE - Menu Monitor

Technology |
Dunkin’ Donuts is using a software application to help it quickly open locations where it is in competition with Starbucks. The
new system helps the company close deals more quickly with franchisees, manages information about the franchisees,
including how financial results are going, and keeps track of each potential deal. The software can identify any problem areas.
This is particularly important in the competition against Starbucks because Starbucks doesn’t franchise, which means that it
can open locations more quickly than Dunkin’ Donuts. The software was developed by business intelligence vendor Oco Inc.
(Informationweek.com 4/16/07)
Personnel |
Jon Luther, CEO
Kate Smith Lavelle, CFO
Will Kussell, COO
Joe Scafido, Chief Menu & Concept Officer
Frances Allen, Brand Marketing Officer
Dunkin’ Donuts hired Frances Allen as Brand Marketing Officer. Previously, Allen served as Vice President of Marketing for
Sony Ericsson Mobile. As Brand Marketing Officer, Allen will be responsible for development and execution of Dunkin’ Donuts’
advertising and marketing strategies. (NRN Daily NewsFax 6/8/07)
News & Other |
Dunkin’ Donuts is testing its new prototype in Columbia, TN. The chain’s third such unit nationwide, it features a new design as
well as an expanded menu. The menu includes the standard donuts and baked goods as well as espressos, made-to-order
sandwiches, chicken biscuits, smoothies and pizzas. Dunkin’ Donuts expects to add as many as 100 outlets in central
Tennessee. (Nashville Business Journal 12/11/06)
Dunkin’ Donuts has a new store concept featuring the words “bake place” and “café.” The emphasis of the new concept will be
on prepared foods, including breakfast pizzas and flatbread sandwiches. The store also has a contemporized version of its
current logo. (Cspnet.com 3/7/07)
Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee Jose Calhelha has been sentenced to 10 months in jail and fined $1 million. Calhelha illegally
brought six Portuguese immigrants into the U.S. and employed them at his Connecticut stores. Calhelha was charged with
recruiting undocumented workers then mistreating them. The workers were paid $250 for 85- to 90-hour work weeks without
overtime. Calhelha’s daughter, Diana, was sentenced to one month house arrest and 250 hours of community service after
pleading guilty to hiring undocumented workers. (NRN Daily NewFax 5/2/07)
Dunkin’ Donuts plans to expand into several cities nationwide. The company plans to have at least 325 outlets in the
Washington/Baltimore area, where it currently has 200 stores. It has signed agreements for 57 units in Washington, Maryland
and northern Virginia. Dunkin’ is also set to open 37 stores in South Carolina with franchisee Kainos Partners LLC. The donut
chain also expects to increase the number of stores in Phoenix from 15 to about 150 over the next few years and it also is
looking to have 63 locations within a few years in Austin, TX, where it currently has one store. The company announced earlier
this year that it plans to increase its total number of U.S. outlets to 15,000 by 2020. (TheState.com 4/29/07; AZCentral.com
5/01/07; Austin American Statesman 5/01/07; The Washington Times 4/23/07)
Dunkin’ Donuts launched its new gift card that can be customized with messages or photos and sent with a personalized
greeting card. Customers can order the gift cards online and customize their gift cards with digital photos, a variety of fonts or
the choice of a solid or patterned background. The gift cards can also be sent through regular mail, with an e-mail notice to
recipients to notify them that a Dunkin’ gift card is on its way. The gift cards cost $4.50 plus the dollar value of the cards and
shipping. (Bostonherald.com 5/31/07)
Hersheypark has opened two Dunkin’ Donuts within the theme park. One store is a full restaurant outside the park entrance
and the other is a beverage kiosk inside the new Boardwalk at Hersheypark in Hershey, PA. These are the first two Dunkin’
Donuts units to be located inside a theme park. (QSRMagazine.com 6/20/07)
Dunkin’ Donuts coffee has agreed to a retail distribution deal with Procter & Gamble Co. to sell the chain’s packaged coffee at
Kroger, Publix, Albertsons, Safeway and other grocers for customers to brew at home. Dunkin’ Donuts is hoping to introduce
the New England brand to customers in the West and South, where the chain is expanding. To prepare for the growth of the
Dunkin’ brand, 40,000 grocery and other retail stores will launch the coffee nationwide. Procter & Gamble Co. will handle the
roasting of the packaged coffee, distribution and a national marketing campaign based on the chain’s current “America runs on
Dunkin” theme. (The New York Times Online 8/13/07; Chicago Tribune Online 8/13/07; CNNMoney.com 8/13/07)
©Technomic Information Services 2007, CIS profiles may not be copied or distributed in any print or electronic format without a license or written consent.
Technomic believes that its sources of information are reliable, but does not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information
published.
241