Dunkin' Donuts Celebrates 60 Years of Innovation and Keeping People Running Worldwide

CANTON, Mass., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Dunkin' Donuts, founded in 1950, is celebrating 60 years of delicious coffee, donuts and baked goods, and the brand is inviting customers all around the world to join the party with festivities planned throughout the year.  Since its humble beginnings as a coffee and donut shop in the Northeast, Dunkin' Donuts is now indisputably one of the world's best-known brands.

The company's "birthDDay" celebration kicks off with the return of the "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest on February 8.  For the second year in a row, Dunkin' Donuts is inviting donut lovers to channel their imagination and love for donuts for the chance to win $12,000 and have their personal donut creation sold at participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants nationwide.  Last year, the grand prize winning donut, "Toffee for Your Coffee," was chosen from among 130,000 entries submitted online for the inaugural contest.  

Beginning today through March 8, visitors to www.DunkinDonuts.com/donut can create their own virtual donut masterpiece from a variety of donut flavors, shapes, toppings and fillings. New interactive elements have been added to the contest website, providing entrants more options to save their creations and share their tasty treats with friends and family. A dozen finalists will be chosen by a panel of Dunkin' Donuts judges to travel to Dunkin' Donuts University, the worldwide training center for the company in Massachusetts, this spring for a bake-off, which will be facilitated by Dunkin' Brands Executive Chef Stan Frankenthaler. This year, JetBlue, Boston's leading carrier, has signed on to be the official airline of the "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest and will offer free airfare to contest finalists flying out of JetBlue cities to the bake-off. The public will also be invited to vote for their favorite finalist online beginning April 19. The grand prize winner / creator of "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest will be unveiled on National Donut Day, June 4.

For its birthday, Dunkin' Donuts has created a full line of commemorative retro packaging that incorporates a new 'Happy 60th BirthDDay!" logo and historical brand logos.  Additionally beginning in March, the company will offer a selection of vintage-themed t-shirts and retro Dunkin' Donuts Cards at www.DunkinDonuts.com as well as at participating restaurants while supplies last.

Dunkin' Donuts will also host birthday celebrations at the original store located in Quincy, Massachusetts and at nearly 60 new restaurants that are scheduled to open over the next several weeks in 10 countries from the United States to China to Chile to Germany.

"Dunkin' Donuts' 60th birthday is an opportunity for us to honor our heritage and commitment to menu innovation -- both of which have made us the beloved brand that we are today," said John Costello, Chief Global Customer and Marketing Officer at Dunkin' Brands. "As we commemorate 60 years of serving the country's best-tasting coffee and baked goods, we look forward to celebrating our birthday with our loyal guests who make us a part of their everyday routine."

THE EARLY YEARS

In 1950, William Rosenberg opened the first Dunkin' Donuts shop in Quincy, Massachusetts with the simple philosophy, "Make and serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well-merchandised stores."  He sold premium coffee for 10 cents a cup, and used higher quality coffee beans that customers loved.  At Dunkin' Donuts, great tasting coffee continues to be the brand's No. 1 priority.    

In the first 10 years, 100 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants opened throughout the Northeast. In the 1970s, Dunkin' Donuts expanded its reach overseas with the opening of the first international location in Japan. Dunkin' Donuts continued to add thousands of stores worldwide throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and also introduced the iconic "Time to Make the Donuts®" advertising campaign.

MENU AND INNOVATION

Since the 1950s, Dunkin' Donuts has been a morning destination for millions of people who turn to Dunkin' Donuts everyday to get a fresh start with a great cup of coffee or baked good.  Over the past 60 years, Dunkin' Donuts has expanded its menu to include iced coffee, flavored coffees, lattes, Coolatta® slush drinks, hot chocolate, Munchkins® donut hole treats, freshly baked muffins and bagels and breakfast sandwiches.  In 2005, the company brought together a "Culinary Dream Team" of acclaimed chefs led by Executive Chef Stan Frankenthaler, to create new and innovative menu choices for busy people on the go.  Most recently, the company introduced the DDSMART better-for-you menu and afternoon snacks such as flatbread sandwiches and cinnamon twists to offer guests more choices throughout the day.

Dunkin' Donuts is the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, selling more than one billion cups of hot and iced coffee and more than 900 million donuts and Munchkins™ donut hole treats every year. Today, there are more than 6,500 restaurants in 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and more than 2,600 international restaurants in 29 countries.

About Dunkin' Donuts
Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite every day, all-day stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories, and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for four years running. The company has more than 9,000 restaurants in 30 countries worldwide. In 2009, Dunkin' Donuts' global system-wide sales more than  $5.6 billion. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands, Inc. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com.

About the Create Dunkin's Next Donut Contest

The contest is open to all US residents 13 years of age or older. Each person can enter one donut creation, with no purchase necessary to participate. The winning donut will be selected based on the vote of the bake-off judging panel, as well as America's online vote.  

SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts