Dunkin’ Donuts — Serving up success worldwide

Our Correspondent / EMIRATES BUSINESS

Serving up nearly 1.8 billion cups of fresh and iced coffee and 2.1 billion beverages every year, through outlets located across the globe, Dunkin’ Donuts is today one of the world’s favourite quick serve master franchises.
Dunkin Donuts was founded in 1950 and is now the favourite destination for quick serve, beverage and daily donuts across the world. It is also one of the market leaders in the sector of regular/decaffeinated/flavoured hot coffee, donut, bagel, and muffin servings. For eight years running, Dunkin’ Donuts has been recognized by the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index as number one in customer loyalty in the coffee category. It is today present in over 33 countries and operates nearly 11,000 restaurants worldwide.
“Ever since we began operations in the UAE in 1997 our mission has been to provide our customers with the freshest in baked goods and a selection of fine coffees,” said David Rodgers, General Manager of Dunkin’ Donuts Middle East. “This dedication to serving up goods only of the highest quality has led to us selling over 60 million donuts and served 10 million cups of coffee across the country since then.” Today there are 74 Dunkin’ Donuts outlets spanning the length and breadth of the country, another testament to their increasing popularity.
Much of the brand’s acknowledged success has come from its dedication to freshness and quality across all its outlets. Today the chain sells over 30 cups of coffee a second and serves more than 5 million customers worldwide, a testimony to its success in pleasing even the most demanding of customers.
According to recent market research conducted by The NPD Group / CREST, Dunkin’ Donuts had the No. 1 share of regular/decaffeinated/flavored hot coffee, donut, bagel, and muffin servings and the No. 2 share of breakfast sandwich servings in quick service restaurants across North America.
Dunkin’ Donuts is consistently featured in Franchise Times’ Annual ‘Top 200 Franchise Systems’ ranking and QSR Magazine’s ‘QSR 50.’ In 2011, Forbes listed Dunkin’ Donuts as one of its ‘Top 20 Franchises to Start’. Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Dunkin’ Donuts in the top10 in its 2012 Franchise 500, while Fortune Magazine named Dunkin’ Donuts in its list of Best Franchises.As a brand Dunkin’ Donuts is also committed to Fair Trade Practices. All of Dunkin’ Donuts’ espresso drinks are made with Fair Trade Certified coffee. In fact Dunkin’ Donuts was the first brand to sell espresso beverages made exclusively with 100 per cent Fair Trade Certified coffee in the US. To date, Dunkin’ Donuts has purchased more than 26 million pounds of coffee from small-scale coffee farmers. The UAE, being a highly multi-cultural market is among the most significant territories for the brand within the Middle East. The market has responded well to ground-breaking innovations, like the opening of the first drive-through outlet. The brand’s success is underlined by the fact that the UAE today has the highest concentration of Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the region. A recent customer survey showed that nearly half (47%) the Dunkin’ Donuts clientele in the UAE comprised UAE nationals and Arab expatriates, while Asians accounted for around 23% of its customer base.
Dunkin’ Donuts outlets across the UAE today serve up over 60 million donuts a year in fifty different flavours, all produced by the brand’s state-of-the-art production facilities in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. With products and flavours tailored to suit the multi-faceted tastes of the UAE’s wide spectrum of nationalities, the brand has today emerged as a hot favourite as people get together for memorable occasions and celebrations.