Loss Prevention
It is important that Dunkin Brands collects 100% of the royalty income due them. Strong royalty growth and fulfillment is important to every successful franchise system. With that said, the use of antagonizing techniques to create fear, and intimidation, by Dunkin Brands Loss Prevention department needs to stop, especially as these methods have been used to focus on issues best left to government agencies that have nothing to do directly with franchise agreement obligations or Brand integrity.
Franchising is about relationships. When the relationship exhibits mutual respect, it will flourish. Using a Federal Prosecutor with a gotcha mentality, and an army of undercover operatives may work for prosecuting criminals, but it certainly doesn’t have a place anymore with Dunkin Donuts franchisees. America runs on Dunkin, but Dunkin Brands runs on franchisees. DDIFO would like to work directly with Dunkin Brands to help create a more fair and balanced approach to loss prevention.
Continued Work on Making the Dunkin Brands Franchise Agreement Fair and Balanced.
DDIFO has contracted the American Association of Franchisee and Dealers (AAFD) to grade the Dunkin Brands franchise agreement and identify how the agreement compares with other leading brands and with AAFD fair franchising standards.
It should be noted that the AAFD’s Fair Franchising Standards have been developed over a dozen years to provide a basis for fair and balanced Franchise agreements that recognize and fulfill the legitimate business needs of both franchisors and franchisees. The AAFD Standards are themselves the product of negotiation between franchisors, franchisees and franchise attorneys, with equal weighted voting.
Government Relations
In 2007 the DDIFO became a founding member of the Coalition of Franchisee Associations (CFA) which leverages the collective strength of member associations in terms of providing a forum for franchisee association leaders to collaborate and share best practices. The following are just a couple of the issues the CFA has focused its Government Relations efforts on in 2009.
Support of the Credit Card Fair Fee Act, which addresses the escalating costs of credit card interchange fees and requires full disclosure and transparency on the part of credit card companies.
Opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the Card Check bill, as it eliminates the protection of a federally supervised secret ballot election to determine whether employees want to join a union, and allows the government to dictate contract terms in certain circumstances.
DDIFO supports the initiatives taken up by Dunkin’ Brands regarding caloric and other menu labeling requirements that apply only to businesses like ours, but allow our competitors to avoid paying the high costs of compliance.
Inaugural CFA Day Forum
The Inaugural CFA Day Forum will be held Feb. 10-11, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. DDIFO will join other franchisee leaders across many brands for learning and networking opportunities at this historic event. This will be an opportunity for DDIFO to be heard and to make a difference for the franchisee community on Capitol Hill.
[...] 1. Dunkin’ Chief Legal Counsel Steve Horn Is Out DDIFO had been reserching and investigating the practices of the Dunkin’ Brands Loss Prevention department over the last few years. DDIFO had taken a number of steps to investigate and change the tactics of Dunkin Brands Loss Prevention strategies, including: DDIFO contracted the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) to grade the Franchise Agreement that Stve Horn had tweaked over the years to make it one of the egregious contracts in all of franchising, DDIFO contracted FranData to benchmark litigation in the the top 20 Food Service Franchises to compare Dunkin Brands, DDIFO contracted the New England Center for Investigative Reporting to interview franchise owners that were subjected toi the tactics of Steve Horn’s Loss Prevention department and DDIFO contacted franchisee attorney’s across the country seeking their experience and sharing others experiences . At the end of September 2009, Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Travis changed the direction of the Loss Prevention department and had the department report to finance as opposed to Steve Horn. That led to Steve Horn leaving the company and signified to the entire franchise community a change had occured in the direction of Dunkin’ Brands. See also: Dunkin’ Donuts’ Loss Prevention Department Wants You! Now What? see also: DDIFO in 2009 and Beyond [...]