Dunkin' Donuts National Franchisee-owned Distribution & Purchasing Cooperative To Open First Local Distribution Center West Of The Mississippi

BELLINGHAM, Mass. and CANTON, Mass., May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The National DCP, LLC (NDCP), the Dunkin' Donuts franchisee-owned distribution and purchasing cooperative today announced that it had signed an agreement to lease a distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona. With a planned opening date of October, the Phoenix center will become the seventh warehouse in the NDCP network and the first located west of the Mississippi. Not only should the new distribution center, which will deliver essentially all food, paper and equipment supplies to Dunkin' Donuts restaurants, better serve the existing locations in the Southwest, it will also facilitate Dunkin' Donuts' ongoing store growth.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110224/NY53806LOGO )

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120508/NE02834LOGO )

In January of this year, the NDCP and Dunkin' Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN), the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, announced that they had signed a long-term, performance-based agreement for NDCP to be the exclusive supply chain provider for all Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the continental United States.

For Dunkin' Brands, the agreement allows the company to realize the benefits of a long-term, performance-based procurement and distribution agreement. Additionally, the agreement supports the Company's domestic expansion plans by providing franchisees in new markets with the same product costs as franchisees in the more highly built-out, established Dunkin' Donuts markets.  Uniform product costs will be phased in over a three-year period beginning in 2012.

"After a thorough search, we are proud to announce a new western distribution hub in Phoenix for our national network," said Kevin Bruce, National DCP Chief Executive Officer. "As we continue to grow along with Dunkin' Donuts, we plan to continue to leverage our network of local distribution centers to efficiently support our members, the Dunkin' Donuts franchisees. Our mission is to provide Dunkin' Donuts franchisees with the very best purchasing and distribution service in the quick service restaurant industry."     

"We are delighted to see the NDCP expand its distribution footprint in order to better support our existing and future franchisees," said Neil Moses, Dunkin' Brands Chief Financial Officer and company executive with responsibility for global supply chain. "This new center in Phoenix supports our goals to expand Dunkin' Donuts footprint across the United States and to drive store-level profitability so that our restaurants can provide Dunkin' Donuts customers with our great coffee and other beverages, baked goods and snacks at a great value."

With almost 7,000 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the U.S. today, the Company has said it has plans to more than double its current number of restaurants in the U.S. over the next 20 years.

In 2011, Dunkin' Donuts opened 243 net new restaurants in the U.S. and has said it plans to open 260 to 280 net domestic Dunkin' locations in 2012. The Company also announced in 2011 that it had signed Store Development Agreements (SDAs) in key western markets including Denver, Colorado; Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Lincoln, Nebraska.    

About the NDCP

The National DCP, LLC, is a member owned purchasing and distribution cooperative owned by Dunkin' Donuts franchisees.  Headquartered in Bellingham, MA, the National DCP is the exclusive purchasing and distribution entity for Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the continental US. 

About Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc.

With more than 16,800 points of distribution in nearly 60 countries worldwide, Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) is one of the world's leading franchisors of quick service restaurants (QSR) serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods, as well as hard-serve ice cream. At the end of 2011, Dunkin' Brands' nearly 100 percent franchised business model included more than 10,000 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants and more than 6,700 Baskin-Robbins restaurants. For the full-year 2011, the company had franchisee-reported sales of approximately $8.3 billion. Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. is headquartered in Canton, Mass.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical fact and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations.  Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "feel," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "should," "would," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.   By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.  These risk and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the ongoing level of profitability of franchisees and licensees; changes in working relationships with our franchisees and licensees and the actions of our franchisees and licensees; our master franchisees' relationships with sub-franchisees; the strength of our brand in the markets in which we compete; changes in competition within the quick-service restaurant segment of the food industry; changes in consumer behavior resulting from changes in technologies or alternative methods of delivery; economic and political conditions in the countries where we operate; our substantial indebtedness; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; consumer preferences, spending patterns and demographic trends; the success of our growth strategy and international development; changes in commodity and food prices, particularly coffee, dairy products and sugar, and other operating costs; shortages of coffee; failure of our network and information technology systems; interruptions or shortages in the supply of products to our franchisees and licensees; the impact of food borne-illness or food safety issues or adverse public or media opinions regarding the health effects of consuming our products; our ability to collect royalty payments from our franchisees and licensees; the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and keep existing restaurants in operation; our ability to retain key personnel; any inability to protect consumer credit card data and catastrophic events.

Forward-looking statements reflect management's analysis as of the date of this press release.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are more fully described in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the section headed "Risk Factors" in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts; National DCP, LLC