Dunkin' Donuts - History

History

In 1948, William Rosenberg opened his first restaurant, Open Kettle, in Quincy, Massachusetts, before being renamed Dunkin' Donuts in 1950.

In 2004, the company's headquarters were relocated to Canton. The following year, four-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee Stan Frankenthaler was announced as the company's first Executive Chef / Director of Culinary Development.

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 use of well water rather than potable water for all irrigation. 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 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.

In April 2012, Dunkin' Donuts switched its beverage products back to The Coca-Cola Company having formerly served Pepsi products in response to similar rivals expanding PepsiCo products to the United States in 2011. The only exception was PepsiCo's Gatorade. Locations in Canada were unaffected by the switch, although a location in Montreal's Eaton Centre serves Nestea along with mostly PepsiCo products.

Dunkin' Donuts, along with Baskin-Robbins, is co-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.

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. In Colombia Donut Factory had been its local rival, although Dunkin' still is preferred and has encouraged this desire by adapting their donut selection to local tastes. 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 through various new and amended older trademark registrations with the USPTO.