Breakfast combo showdown: How does Starbucks match up to Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds?

Rosemary Black of the Daily News sizes up breakfast combos.

Wake up and smell the breakfast combos. The coffee-enhanced fast-food meals can make getting out of bed a little less painful – and a little less expensive, too. With two new “artisan” breakfast sandwiches making their debut Monday, Starbucks is joining Dunkin Donuts and McDonald’s in a pitch for the consumer’s breakfast dollar: the other two chains have offered a.m. combos for a while. So are they worth it? And just how bad, or good, are they?

We got a sneak preview of the new Starbucks sandwiches, and also sampled the morning fare at Dunkin Donuts and McDonald’s. Here’s our take on how the combos taste and if they actually are a bargain. (Prices vary slightly from store to store.)

Starbucks Artisan Bacon Sandwich (comes with coffee for $3.95, 380 calories): It’s called “artisan” because it’s on a ciabatta-style country roll, and it’s actually pretty good. The roll was crunchy and fresh, the bacon was cooked just right and the Parmesan and Gouda-flavored frittata was soft and creamy. As for the coffee, well, you either love or hate Starbucks coffee. You actually do save money here: a tall coffee a la carte will set you back $1.75, but when you order it as a combo you save more than $1.

Starbucks Artisan Ham Sandwich (comes with coffee for $3.95, 370 calories): A similar sandwich but made with Black Forest ham, and Cheddar instead of Gouda. The roll was crisp and crunchy, the frittata nicely balanced and not overly firm. Here, too, you save $1 if you order the combo.

Dunkin Donuts Waffle Breakfast Sandwich ($3.99 with a medium coffee, 390 calories): This newcomer to the Dunkin Donuts breakfast menu is touted as the first fast food breakfast sandwich made with waffles. The waffles have a faint maple flavor that doesn’t quite resonate with the egg and meat filling. The eggs held between the two waffles are just so-so, and the waffles could be a little more crisp. The bacon was good, however, and Dunkin Donuts coffee is excellent. You’ll save well over a dollar if you order the combo since a medium coffee is over $2 and the a la carte waffle sandwich is slightly more than $3.

Dunkin Donuts Egg White Flatbread ($4.28 with a medium coffee, 290 calories): This item is good for the weight conscious, though the flatbread was on the dry side and the reduced-fat cheese wasn’t as tangy and rich as full-fat cheese. Adding more veggies would do wonders here but all in all, this sandwich is not a bad way to start the day. Here, too, you’ll save more than $1 with the combo as the a la carte sandwich runs about $3.20.

McDonald’s Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle ($4.13 as a combo with hash browns and coffee or OJ, 570 calories for the meal; sandwich alone is $2.79 and 420 calories): The sweet-salty concoction is surprisingly small for 420 calories: a little round, soft bun that’s already injected with some sort of maple-tasting sweetener holds a small square of firm, tasteless egg, a strip of limp bacon and a slice of American cheese plastered to the egg. The accompanying hash browns are an oval-shaped wedge that’s acceptable but definitely not as good as McDonald’s french fries. (Hint: Serve with catsup.) This is unquestionably one of the heartiest breakfast combos out there, though it still weighs in with nearly 200 calories less than the McDonald’s burrito. If you order the combo rather than the sandwich, hash browns and coffee, you’ll save 90 cents.

McDonald’s McSkillet Burrito with Sausage ($4.49 as a combo with hash browns and either coffee or OJ; 760 calories): It’s hard to justify consuming so many calories just on breakfast. This one’s not for the faint of heart, nor is it all that tasty. A soft flour tortilla holds a filling of scrambled egg, potato chunks, a few minute flecks of bell peppers, tossed with a halved sausage patty, American cheese and a hot sauce that’s just a little too acidic first thing in the morning.  You’ll save money, though: the special costs $1.10 less than if you buy all three items – burrito, coffee, hash browns – individually.

Check results of the Vote Here

Daily News

The J. M. Smucker Company Announces Third Quarter Results

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:  SJM) today announced
results for the third quarter ended January 31, 2009, of its
2009 fiscal year.  Results for the three-month and nine-month
periods ended January 31, 2009, include the operations of
The Folgers Coffee Company ("Folgers") since the completion of the merger on
November 6, 2008.

• Net sales increased 78 percent led by Folgers:

• Net income increased 84 percent

• EPS down 9 percent due to Folgers merger and integration charges

• EPS up 11 percent excluding charges

U.S. Retail Coffee Market

The U.S. retail coffee market segment contributed $442.9 million to net sales and $90.2 million in segment profit for the third quarter of 2009. On a pro forma basis, net sales increased 4 percent for the quarter as growth in Dunkin’ Donuts(R) contributed to net sales and margin growth. Integration of the Folgers business is proceeding as planned as the Company completed its customer facing activities at the beginning of February, achieving a key milestone.

“We delivered strong financial performance this quarter with solid results in our core Smucker business and the addition of Folgers,” commented Richard Smucker, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer. “The Folgers merger was completed early in the quarter and contributed to margin expansion and significantly increased cash flow. The integration remains on track and we appreciate the commitment of our employees both in integrating Folgers, and maintaining their focus on the core business.”

Smucker Announcement

McDonald’s 10-K Report: “Company-operated restaurants are important”

Market Watch published McDonalds just released 10-K annual report, McDonald’s explains to shareholders and why it is critical for them to have corporate stores – even though its returns from franchisees are higher.

We view ourselves primarily as a franchisor and continually review our mix of Company-operated and franchised (conventional franchised, developmental licensed and affiliated) restaurants to deliver a great customer experience and drive profitability.

In most cases, franchising is the best way to achieve both goals. Although direct restaurant operation is more capital-intensive relative to franchising and results in lower restaurant margins as a percent of revenues, Company-operated restaurants are important to our success in both mature and developing markets.

In our Company-operated restaurants, and in collaboration with our franchisees, we further develop and refine operating standards, marketing concepts and product and pricing strategies, so that only those that we believe are most beneficial are introduced Systemwide.

In addition, we firmly believe that owning restaurants is paramount to being a credible franchisor and essential to providing Company personnel with restaurant operations experience. Our Company-operated business also helps to facilitate strategic changes in restaurant ownership.

Of the 31,967 McDonald’s restaurants in 118 countries at year-end 2008, 25,465 were operated by franchisees (including 18,402 operated by conventional franchisees, 2,926 operated by developmental licensees and 4,137 operated by foreign affiliated markets (affiliates)-primarily in Japan) and 6,502 were operated by the Company.

McDonald’s in 2008 continued to see some of the highest profit growth among major franchising firms. In the middle of the melt down in Wall Street, its stock is currently only 1% lower than last year.

Market Watch and Blue MauMau

Blue Dogs Seek Senate Cover on Card Check

Kevin Bogardus reports in TheHill.com that Democratic leaders in the House and Senate may have the upper chamber strike first on a controversial labor bill, which would protect conservative Blue Dog Democrats from a tough vote.

The House voted first in 2007 on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which business groups refer to as “card-check” legislation, and it was expected the House would vote first this year as well.

The bill has more than enough votes to pass the House, but faces a difficult road in the Senate, where Democrats fall just short of a filibuster-proof majority.

Blue Dog Democrats in the House have shown tepid support so far for the legislation, which is the subject of an all-out lobbying war between business and labor. Many have faced tough questions about the legislation from constituents, who have been blitzed with a business advertising campaign.

“I do think the legislation has got to start in the Senate because it has already passed in the House,” said Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.). “There is no point in bringing up the legislation if they don’t have the votes in the Senate.”

“It’s my understanding [that] the Senate is going to act first on it. They may change it,” said Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.). “When they act, we can talk about it. What I think about the current bill may be irrelevant.”

One business lobbyist said a number of Blue Dogs have expressed concerns that the bill would be a tough sell back in their districts and have heard from employees themselves who are opposed it.

“The Blue Dogs don’t want to be put to a vote on this if it changes or dies in the Senate,” said a business lobbyist. “The current dynamics have changed. Their vote would be for real now.”

Businesss groups would see a Senate-first strategy as an early victory for their lobbying campaign.

A union official said the debate over strategy revolves around whether an initial House vote would help raise Senate support.

“There isn’t any doubt in anyone’s mind that we have a substantial majority in the House and it will pass when the Speaker brings it up,” said a union official. “Now the question is, will that lead to 60 votes in the Senate or not? That is what is being discussed right now.”

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said members are considering taking up EFCA first in the Senate because that is where the challenge for the bill lies.

“We can pass the bill,” Miller said of the House. He said the strategy was not related to concerns from Blue Dogs or other members.

Miller, a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said the move is not a sign of discord behind the scenes. “We’re not having defections. There’s no problem here,” he said.

He also said the decision had not been finalized but was under serious consideration.

“I feel the decision has already been pretty well made. We have had discussions about it,” said Miller, although he added that House and Senate leaders have yet to sign off on the strategic move.

A Senate leadership aide said no decision has been made, and a House leadership aide said Obama administration officials are also participating in the talks on when and where to introduce the bill.

The bill is not moving forward as quickly this year as it did in the last Congress.

TheHill.com

Read more about the “Employee Free Choice Act” or “Card Check” here in the DDIFO Newsroom:

Employee Free Choice Act – A Game Changer

Unions, employers gearing up for card check battle

Boehner: Card Check Is About Union Lobbying Interests, Not Workers’ Rights

The Card Check Battle Takes to the Airwaves!

Take Action!: Contact your congressman and senators, let them know how you feel: CFA Votes.

Value-for-Money Strategies for Recessionary Times

With the recession deepening, customers’ wallets are slamming shut. Companies that historically sold premium offerings to drive profits can no longer rely on this tactic. Instead, they must provide cost-conscious buyers with more value for less money.

Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng write in the Harvard Business Review that value for money has become a strategic imperative—and not just because of the recession. Even before the slowdown began, there were signs that it ought to be a major consideration for companies. In developed countries, increases in household income over the past decade have favored the top 20% of earners, while the spending power of most families has stagnated or declined. Many people in the United States, for instance, have found it difficult to maintain their standard of living after paying for such necessities as their mortgage, transport, utilities, and health care without borrowing money. More recently, small salary increases and the steady drumbeat of job losses have turned many consumers into value shoppers, as they tighten their belts.

No one needs convincing that the economic situation we’re facing today is almost unprecedented. Yet much of the advice that executives have received is remarkably similar to what they heard during the recession in 2000. Particularly in Western enterprises, the preferred antidotes seem to be standard ones: Evaluate your risks, develop contingency plans, focus on your core, reduce costs, expect the unexpected, and so on. The unspoken objective appears to be to survive or, at most, to maintain market share.

Read more at Harvard Business Review

Md. Appeals Court Protects Anonymous Web Posters

Maryland’s Court of Appeals today issued a decision protecting the identity of three anonymous Internet posters and, for the first time, offering guidelines for state courts to follow in libel cases before unmasking online commenters.

The opinion and instructions stem from a defamation lawsuit filed by Eastern Shore developer Zebulon Brodie against three unknown Internet posters and Independent Newspapers Inc., which runs an online community forum.

The posters had written critical comments about the cleanliness of a Dunkin’ Donuts that Brodie owns in Centreville.

The Appeals Court concluded that Brodie was not entitled to identifying information about the posters, even though they used the forum to criticize him and his business, because he misidentified which usernames made the offending statements.

The five-step process the court adopted for future cases was borrowed from a New Jersey court and outlined in today’s 43-page majority opinion. It seeks to help trial courts “balance First Amendment rights with the right to seek protection for defamation” by suggesting they:

• Require that plaintiffs notify anonymous parties that their identities are sought.

• Give the posters time to reply with reasons why they should remain nameless.

• Require plaintiffs identify the defamatory statements and who made them.

• Determine whether the complaint has set forth a prima facie defamation, where the words are obviously libelous, or a per quod action, meaning it requires outside evidence.

• Weigh the poster’s right to free speech against the strength of the case and the necessity of identity disclosure.

A five-page concurring opinion by three of the seven judges accepts steps one through three but asks for clarification on step four as to how prima facie nature should be shown and outright rejects step five as “unnecessary and needlessly complicated.”

Baltimore Sun and Wall Street Journal

Grand Opening at Dunkin Donuts in Anderson, IN

On Friday, March 6, 2009, music will be playing and coffee will be flowing at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 4431 S. Scatterfield Rd. in Anderson to celebrate their grand opening. The LJ Mechem Band will be on hand beginning at 7:30 a.m. to help wake up customers and bring on the weekend.

At 9 a.m., restaurant owners Dennis Gramm and Craig Sanders will celebrate Dunkin’ Donuts’ place in the community by presenting a cash ribbon donation to the Anderson Indiana Main Street program (AIMS), which supports civic, cultural, social and economic activities in downtown Anderson.  Linda Dawson, Executive Director of Economic Development; Nancy Moneyhun, AIMS President; and other local officials will accept the $750 donation on behalf of AIMS.

Free small hot or iced coffee will be given away, no purchase necessary, from 9 a.m. – noon, and the Dunkin’ Donuts sampling crew will distribute other free food items from Dunkin’ Donuts’ breakfast and all-day menus.

In addition, WFMS 95.5 will broadcast live from the store starting at 10 a.m. until noon.

The Dunkin’ Donuts on Scatterfield opened for business on Dec. 16.  Anderson’s first Dunkin’ Donuts, also owned by Gramm and Sanders, opened Nov. 20 at 14th and Jackson in downtown.  Both Anderson stores will give away free coffee from 9 a.m. – noon on March 6.

Gramm and Sanders, who own the HSG Restaurant Group, LLC of Indianapolis, currently operate eight Dunkin’ Donuts in Central Indiana.  Both Anderson Dunkin’ Donuts are open seven days a week, and feature drive-thru windows and the brand’s recently updated store design.

Anderson Free Press

Massachusetts Menu Labeling Hearing Notice!

The Massachusetts Department of Health will hold two public hearings about menu labeling next Tuesday, February 24 and Wednesday, February 25.  The public hearings will be held at the following locations:

Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 2:00 p.m.
Worcester Senior Center
128 Providence Street

Stimulus Package Includes Money for SBA Lending, Energy Projects, Tax Relief

Hazel Becker writes in NuWire Investor that the economic stimulus legislation to be signed into law by President Obama includes a blend of provisions offered by the House and Senate to free up credit for small businesses, spur investments in alternative energy, and rejuvenate the housing market.

The Conference Committee compromised between the two chambers’ differing home purchase tax credits, settling on an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers ($4,000 each for married couples who file separate tax returns).  In a change from the housing stimulus legislation enacted in July 2008, this credit does not have to be repaid as long as the taxpayer continues to use the home as a principal residence for at least three years after purchase. It is effective for purchases completed between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 1, 2009.

Small business loan provisions

Notably, the final legislation includes more money for Small Business Association lending programs than either the House or Senate envisioned. According to the Conference Committee report, the agreement provides $636 million for SBA loan programs, while the House bill allocated $430 million for small business lending and the Senate proposed $621 million.  Of the additional amount, $6 million is directed to the SBA’s microloan program.

Among the administrative provisions related to the SBA that we reported on earlier, the legislation authorizes:

• fee reductions in the 7(a) and 504 loan programs proposed by the Senate;
• guarantees of up to 90 percent on 7(a) loans, as proposed by the House;
• a Secondary Market Guarantee Authority within the SBA to guarantee pools of first lien 504 loans, as proposed by the House;
• refinancing of 504 community development loans with revised job creation goals; and
• simplified maximum leverage limits and aggregate investment limits required of small business investment companies (SBICs).

In addition, the legislation authorizes a new business stabilization program to allow the SBA to guarantee deferred loans of up to $35,000 to viable small businesses that already have a qualifying small business loan and are experiencing immediate financial hardship. To qualify, the loan must be made to a small business that meets the 7(a) eligibility criteria and must be used to make periodic payments on an existing qualifying loan for up to six months. Repayment of loans guaranteed under this program must be deferred for 12 months after disbursement and amortized over no more than five years.

The conference report does not include a House provision that would have allowed refinancing of SBA loans or a Senate provision that would have raised the limits on 7(a) loans.

Small business tax provisions

As expected the legislation extends for two years small businesses’ ability to expense up to $250,000 annually in costs for new plants and equipment under Section 179 of the tax code instead of depreciating it over time.

The Conference Committee accepted a Senate proposal  that allows individuals to exclude from income 75 percent of their gains on small business stock held for more than five years (up from 50 percent under current law). It also included, with modifications, a provision allowing businesses to defer paying taxes on “cancellation of debt income” when they repurchase or cancel their debt for less than its adjusted basis in 2009 or 2010.

Conferees were able to cut the cost of the legislation in part by paring back the provision allowing businesses to carry net operating losses back five years. The new law extends the two-year carry-back only for businesses with gross receipts under $15 million.

Some small businesses also will benefit from a provision of the legislation intended to stimulate the moribund automobile industry. The legislation allows taxpayers who don’t take state sales taxes as an itemized deduction to deduct any state or local sales or excise taxes paid in 2009 when purchasing an automobile, light truck, or motorcycle weighing less than 8,500 pounds. The deduction is capped at $49,500 and phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income between $125,000 and $135,000 ($250,000 and $260,000 for joint returns).

Renewable energy provisions

The stimulus package also includes several provisions that will further President Obama’s goals of investing in clean energy technology and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Among the legislation’s renewable energy incentives are:

• an extension of the renewable electricity production credit through 2012 for wind facilities and through 2013 for other technologies;
• an option for some taxpayers to elect to take an investment tax credit instead of the renewable electricity production credit;
• elimination of the $4,000 cap on the business energy credit for qualified small wind energy property; and
• a new program that allows businesses and homeowners that install renewable electricity production equipment to apply for a grant of up to 30 percent of the cost instead of claiming a tax credit. This option is intended to help businesses and homeowners who don’t have enough taxable income to make full use of the credits.

NuWire Investor

See the DDIFO Insider article Dunkin Franchisee Goes Green for Profits

Unions, employers gearing up for card check battle

Reporters from the Philadelphia Inquirer write that hearing Collegeville builder Gustavo Perea tell it, the prospect is frightening.

Some ambitious union organizer would take his carpenters out to a bar, buy them a couple of beers, get them to sign some union cards, and the next thing Perea knows, he’d wake up in the morning with a union shop.

That’s how he imagines the future if the federal Employee Free Choice Act is passed – a proposed Law that unions say would make it easier for them to bring unions into workplaces. It would allow workers to bypass traditional union-establishing elections if a majority sign cards that would authorize a union, a process known as card check.

“It’s a bad law,” said Perea, president of Adams-Bickel Associates Inc.

Union organizers such as Harry Arnold disagree.

“We are not afraid of elections,” said Arnold, who works locally for the Communications Workers of America and specializes in organizing cable and telecom employees. “It’s what happens during the time the company gets to intimidate the workers [before the election]” that worries organizers, he said.

Other provisions in the bill stiffen penalties for unfair business practices against pro-union workers and require binding arbitration if both sides cannot agree on a first contract.

Perea and thousands of other businesses are behind a big push to defeat the bill – President Obama’s top promise to organized labor, which provided important parts of the grassroots machinery that helped elect him. Experts say the bill might be introduced in the House in March or April, but the key Senate vote probably won’t occur until June.

The National Chamber of Commerce has spent $10 million in recent months opposing the proposed legislation, while labor, through the AFL-CIO and affiliate organizations, launched a $3 million advertising campaign in mid-January.

In the first week of February, both sides sent their troops to Washington to lobby in well-publicized events. Union workers delivered a petition with more than a million signatures supporting the act. The National Association of Manufacturers dispatched 50 chief executives.

Perea’s not surprised that passing the bill is organized labor’s top priority this year.

“Unions have been losing ground,” Perea said. “The world has changed. It’s an archaic and antique method of working.”

Arnold’s not surprised that defeating the bill is the chamber’s top priority this year.

“The extra weight given to this – obviously it’s a power struggle,” he said. “It’s not about the workers having an election, it’s about their [employers'] access to intimidate workers.”

For organized labor, the Obama presidency feels like a salve. His nominee for secretary of labor, U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D., Calif), backed the Employee Free Choice bill when it was introduced in 2007. And Obama encouraged labor by reversing Bush policies involving unions on large-scale public construction projects during Obama’s first month in office.

But Obama has barely mentioned the Employee Free Choice issue since he won.

Advisers and outside political strategists say that Obama cannot afford to get bogged down in a nasty fight on the polarizing issue at the same time he is trying to right the economy.

Obama said in an interview last week that he would proceed carefully, urging labor and business groups to work together on a compromise proposal that would remove impediments to organizing while addressing the “legitimate concerns” of business.

“Whether those conversations can bear fruit over the next several months, we’ll see,” Obama said. “But I’m always a big believer [that] before we gear up for some tooth-and-nail battle . . . we see if some accommodations can’t be found.”

By and large, labor leaders have held off as Obama’s economic-recovery legislation commanded the stage, but their patience might fade.

Unions must hold politicians’ feet to the fire, Fred Azcarate, one of the AFL-CIO’s point people on this issue, told hundreds of Philadelphia area labor leaders meeting in Atlantic City for a convention earlier this month.

Holding up his cell phone, he urged them to call a politician during their lunch break.

“We need to get our leaders and our members talking to them,” he said. “We’re on the verge of getting this done.”

From labor’s perspective, it can’t happen too soon.

After decades of decline, union membership as a percentage of the workforce has edged up slightly to 12.4 percent, or 16.1 million workers. But that blip is misleading; 25 years ago, one in five workers belonged to a union.

The numbers alone don’t tell the story of how steep labor’s decline has been, said Temple University history professor Bryant Simon. In the 1940s and 1950s, no serious policy issue was discussed in America without labor having “a seat at the table,” he said.

Philadelphia Inquirer

ACTION ALERT: Contact your elected officials and tell them how you feel: Oppose the Employee Free Choice Act

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