Opportunities

Opportunity: Dunkin' Donuts can keep customers by responding to consumers' health concerns. The company ahs already moved towards a trans-fat-free frying oil for their donuts (Ordonez, 2007). Since they have begun offering breakfast sandwiches, more health-conscious offerings would allow to company to transcend their image as having only fat-laden breakfast offerings. Dunkin' Donuts has a definite opportunity in the market for healthier breakfast foods and drinks.

Opportunity: Dunkin' Donuts' coffee are expanding into the in-store market. This could not happen at a better time; Crown (2007) reports that coffee drinkers are opting for gourmet coffees, and this goes for their homes as well as when they are on the go. While Dunkin' Donuts has already gotten its coffee onto store shelves, significant opportunity exists for the company to make grocery and restaurant partnerships that include its coffee.

Opportunity: Dunkin' Donuts is in a great position to expand geographically in the United States. Symonds (2004) reports that 80% of the company's sales come from only 34% of the Untied States. While more of the market has been tapped since 2004, Dunkin' Donuts has still not become a major player in the Midwest, Southeast, and Western United States Regions. Additionally, 79 new Canadian franchises in 2007 (from 0 previous to that) show potential for growth in the Canadian market (Entrepreneur.com, 2007). With highly rated franchise opportunities, the company is in a good position to grow geographically in the United States and internationally.

Opportunity: Dunkin' Donuts has the ability to fill in where Krispy Kreme has failed. Krispy Kreme's over-expansion and poor results have left consumers looking for a donut store that offers more than just donuts. With bagels, breakfast sandwiches and drinks, as well as Baskin' Robbins in some areas, Dunkin' Donuts has the opportunity to draw customers from the flagging Krispy Kreme stores if it uses effective advertising.

Threats

Threat: Consumers are more health conscious, and may not be as interested in Dunkin' Donuts as they once were. Despite the American Institute of Baking's (2007) reports on high donut consumption, many consumers are calling for healthier options. Dunkin'...

Juggling these threats means maintaining a strong brand even while offering things that are very different to the brand's mainstay of good donuts (Ordonez, 2007).
Threat: Many companies, new and old, are improving and expanding into the gourmet coffee market. At the national level, McDonalds is now offering gourmet coffees (Symonds, 2004). In smaller, regional markets, small roasters are often able to offer competitive coffee products and a more specialized or "home" feel than Dunkin' Donuts. Most urban markets have many places that offer gourmet coffee, making the market much more competitive. As a large company, Dunkin' Donuts may have a difficult time keeping up with each individual area's companies and competition. This in turn threatens their sales in these markets.

Threat: Dunkin' Donuts has taken on many new products, partnerships, and expansion plans (Entrepreneur.com, 2007; Symonds, 2004). It is possible that the company is spreading itself too thin by expanding into so many new markets and regions with so many new products still not solidly accepted by consumers. One potential risk in this area is the inability of the company to gauge whether new products are doing poorly based on the product vs. A new location or region. While increased coffee sales and new offerings may increase sales in some areas, they may become a burden in others where regional differences may cause individual franchises to fail.

Works Cited

American Institute of Baking. (2007). Doughnut statistics and trends. Retrieved November 30, 2007, from https://www.aibonline.org/resources/statistics/doughnut.html

Crown, J. (2007). A wake-up call for coffee. Business Week, 4055, p. 1/5.

Entepreneur.com. (2007). Franchise zone: Dunkin' Donuts. Retrieved November 30, 2007, at http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/dunkindonuts/282304-0.html

Ordonez, J. (2007). Taking the junk out of junk food. Newsweek, 150(15), p. 1.

Symonds, W.C. (2004 Dec. 20). A java jolt for Dunin' Donuts. Business Week [online]. Retrieved November 30, 2007, at http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/04_51/b3913090.htm?chan=gl