Community Chat

[Pipsqueak]

Don't know if anyone saw this article in yesterdays business section but very excited about the new agreement reached especially for those of us who have no Dunkin' Donuts shops where we live. See the article below:

(Reuters) - Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. (DNKN.O) said on Thursday that its Dunkin' K-Cups will be available online and across retail stores in North America, a move that expands the doughnut chain's brand in the single-serve coffee market amid growing competition.

Dunkin' K-Cups are available at present only in Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the United States. Later this year, through an agreement with J M Smucker Co (SJM.N) and Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (GMCR.O), consumers will be able to buy the product in grocery stores, drugstores and private warehouse stores, as well as on the Dunkin', Smucker and Keurig websites.

Dunkin' Brands Chief Executive Nigel Travis said that most K-cup sales are made where consumers buy their groceries.

The deal removes the challenge of "us not being in the places where all the competition is situated," he said in an interview. He added that it also places Dunkin' K-Cups in regions where Dunkin' Donuts lacks a significant presence, such as west of the Mississippi River.

The move comes at a time when Dunkin', one of the most popular coffee brands in the grocery store, faces increased competition. Kraft Foods Group Inc. (KRFT.O) is launching McDonald's Corp's (MCD.N) McCafe brand ground, whole-bean and single-serve coffees at retail. That brand is performing well so far, said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Chris Growe.

Keurig will continue to be exclusive producer of Dunkin' K-Cups. Under the agreement, Smucker will market K-Cup packs to grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, drugstores, dollar stores and home improvement stores. Keurig will market the Dunkin' K-Cup packs to specialty stores and office superstores.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Dunkin' Brands also said it had reached a profit sharing agreement under which certain franchisees would receive an equal share of profit from the sale of K-Cups and packaged coffee outside its restaurants.

Smucker currently makes and distributes Dunkin' Donuts brand bagged coffee. While the launch of the Dunkin' K-cups at retail is expected to help Smucker amid weak sales in its K-cup business, "we believe the margin on these products will be dilutive to Smucker's existing K-cup and coffee margins" due to the profit sharing agreement, Growe said.

Dunkin' has not specified a retail price for the K-Cups but said they are currently sold in its shops for a suggested retail price of $8.99 a box.

Shares of Dunkin' Brands were up 3.6 percent at $48.12 in afternoon.

Happy coffee drinking to one and all!

[oceantown]

Thanks for posting, Pipsqueak!

I will keep my eye out for these. I was surprised to read in the article that McDonald's McCafe k-cups will also be available. Interesting!

[misschristy]

I can't wait to try them! Our Dunkin was run by a guy who didn't even want to put in the iced coffee machines. They closed and it's a little bit of a drive to get to one. I miss them!

[Tigriss]

On 2/27/2015 oceantown said:

Thanks for posting, Pipsqueak!

I will keep my eye out for these. I was surprised to read in the article that McDonald's McCafe k-cups will also be available. Interesting!

I don't find the coffee at McDonald's good. If I can't drink it black, then it is bad coffee. I find it very acidic, so I add creamer to it. I'll stick to my Gevalia. I did try the Dunkin Doughnuts bagged coffee. I found it to OK.

[Krimpette]

DD is my absolute favorite coffee! Fortunately, I'm not that far from a DD store, so I've been able to get both the bagged, and now the K-cups….and especially when they were on sale late last year.

[Pipsqueak]

Glad you found the article interesting, oceantown, and can't wait to see these readily available in our grocery stores since there aren't any DD's in our area. Have already seen the McCafe brand being carried not only in our grocery stores but at Dollar General, too.

misschristy, I miss DD especially since we moved from an area where there was one just about on every corner like a McDonald's, to a place that has not one close by at all.

I really don't like McDonald's coffee either, tigriss, so the McCafe K-Cups or bagged coffee don't interest me at all. However, I do like the Gevalia bagged coffee, too.

And Krimpette, how lucky you are to have a DD store not far from you. As a matter of fact, where we used to live, our neighbor owned several franchises in the area, even one up the street from our subdivision where I would sometimes walk to get a coffee (and maybe sneak a donut or two)

[kcladyz]

it always been available i thought