Dunkin Donuts’ Not Hurting from Coffee Price Wars
March 3, 2010 by Jim Coen
Filed under Brand News
Convenience Store News reports The fast-food coffee wars have yet to dent Dunkin Donuts’ bottom line very much, one of the chain’s owners said this week.
Despite efforts by McDonald’s Corp to undercut competitors on price, Dunkin’s market share in coffee is steady and growing, Mark Nunnelly, managing director at Bain Capital, said Monday at the Reuters Private Equity and Hedge Funds Summit in New York.
“The big hurt has not been Dunkin to McDonald’s, or McDonald’s to Dunkin. It’s been Dunkin and McDonald’s to your local fill-in-the-blank convenience store,” he said.
Nunnelly, whose firm is one of three private equity owners of the doughnut chain, said Starbucks Corp. has been hurt the most by the price war and the weak economy, noting that more consumers are trading down from expensive drinks to cheaper plain coffee rather than switching among the various outlets.
“The higher-priced players at $4 or $5 for a latte have obviously had the toughest year through the crisis,” Nunnelly said. “The more accessible price point players like Dunkin and McDonald’s have fared better through that period.”
Read more at: Convenience Store News
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