The tong war between Tim Horton’s and its own franchisees continued in a big way this past week with the RBI-owned brand moving against a franchisee in Cape Bretton and stripping the franchise owner of his 4 franchises. The franchisor claimed that franchisee David Hughes, who also happens to serve as the head of the…
Over the past week or two, there have been a number of Dunkin’ Donuts noteworthy announcements. First, on the environmental-friendly side of the ledger, Dunkin Brands announced that it will eliminate artificial food dyes and coloring from most Dunkin’ and Baskin products in US markets by the end of 2018. The company admitted that it…
In the summer of 2007, news broke in the city of Cincinnati – the home of consumer brand giant Procter & Gamble – and in Boston – the home of Dunkin’ Donuts. P&G was to begin selling Dunkin’ coffee in supermarkets and other retail outlets. No longer did a customer have to go to a…
We noted a couple of interesting stories on Starbucks over the past few weeks that you might be interested in. First, we noted that they launched a huge roastery and “coffee bar” on Capital Hill in Seattle last week. The 15,000 square foot roastery will be used solely for roasting, tasting and education their customers…
Krispy Kreme announced this week that it is expanding its stock repurchase program by investing an additional $25 million in the effort bringing the program total to $105 million. The stock repurchase initiative is designed to reduce the number of shares the company has outstanding, thereby raising the value of the remaining shares. As of…
Aside from the Burger King buys Tim Horton’s news, we took note of a couple of other relevant stories this week . . . Starbucks announced that they will begin testing mobile coffee trucks this fall on three targeted college campuses. Arizona State University, James Madison University in Virginia and South Carolina’s Coastal Carolina University…
Keurig Green Mountain this week announced they will increase the cost of their K-Cups and other coffee products by as much as 9%. The increase is expected to be effective early in November of this year. Caribou Coffee plans a number of additions to their food menu, announcing this week that green salads, wraps, pasta…
McDonald’s did not fare particularly well in the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey. The Golden Arches came in dead last among large fast-food chains included in the survey. They landed a rating of just 71, down 2 points from last year’s total. The average rating for fast-food restaurants was 80. In other news, Subway…
The newly renamed Keurig Green Mountain announced this week that they were joining the S&P 500 Index. They also announced that they have reworked their agreement with Starbucks whereby they will expand Starbucks range of K-cups. In exchange, Starbucks will receive more favorable terms. Tim Hortons announced this week that in an effort to boost…
We haven’t reported too much of late on our competitors, but there is much to report, so we’ll try to catch you up in this issue . . . Taco Bell has joined the breakfast competition, announcing a few weeks ago that beginning March 27, they will offer a rather extensive breakfast menu from 7AM…
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