Dunkin Donuts & More: Chennai Launch at Pheonix market city today!

Little late but Dunkin Donuts is finally launching in Chennai. Chennai will be their 20^th city in India. Dunkin Donuts had a pre-launch meet with bloggers and media today afternoon and I had a chance to check it out. 

My knowledge of donuts was very limited. It is not the kind of food I typically buy. Rs 100 parking fee at Pheonix Market city notwithstanding, I went to the pre-launch workshop partly to meet Dev Amritesh and partly to know more about Donuts as a food item.

First thing I realized that Donut is ‘One’ of the several things that are sold in Dunkin Donuts. Most of us miss “& More” part of the brand name. Dunkin Donuts & More sells Burgers, Wraps, Coffee, Ice Tea, Salads and also donuts.  We were given a brief about Dunkin Donut’s market positioning. 

Dev Amritesh gave us a briefing about the brand positioning and their product range. He was accompanied by Chef Peter D'Mello, Chef Suparna and Chef Felix Daniel. Below is the summary of the brief presentation given to us.

Traditionally we had two kind of options for eating out- QSRs of Quick Service Restaurants which serve standard food and star hotels with Gourmet food which is expensive fine dining. QSRs offer simple, machine made food with no story and they are generalized for all age groups. On the other hand gourmet offers the other extreme of fine dining.

Dunkin Donuts and more targets urban young adults in the age group of 21-35 years of age. By their study they have found out that across all major metros, urban young adults face same kind of challenges and preferences. Earlier life was simple- either you had a girlfriend/job/car/home etc or you didn't. If you didn't you had to work hard to get one. Today having these stuff do not guarantee peace and satisfaction. People have jobs but are not satisfied with it, are stressed out. This community of consumers want something in-between Quick Service Restaurant and expensive gourmet. They wish to have food they can connect with, they want their food to be unique and touchy.

Dunkin Donuts targets this group of audience with their unique range of offerings- burgers, wraps, juices, salads, coffee and also Donuts. Most of the Dunkin Donut offerings come in both veg and non-veg options. 

We were given a sample of DD offerings- burgers, wraps, coffee, ice tea and of course the donuts. Below are some of their unique offerings:

1) Crunchy Joe Burger: With crunchy stuff and rajma inside, this one is one of the cheapest offerings- Rs 49 for veg and Rs 59 for non-veg.

2) Tough Guy Burger: Your boyfriend dumped you? Go get a tough guy burger. Your boss scolded you? go grab a tough guy burger.. Essentially you can vent your anger/frustration on this burger which is masculine, flawed and confrontational by character.

3) Naughty Lucy Burger: In this the cheese oozes out of the patty. Raw green mango sause and other stuff are inside for a unique combination of taste.

4) Spiked Ice Tea: Regular ice tea spiked with 5 spices- clove, pepper, cinnamon, spice and one more. Refreshing Lemon and also Mint + Lemon are two other flavors in Ice tea 

5)Wicked Wrap: Loaded with crunchy nachos

6) Dunkaccino: With Jamaican Rum and Almonds (No real alcohol), this drink Dunkin's signature cold coffee.

7) Donut range: Its a mistake, Ugly Strawberry, Death by Chocolate, Alive by Chocolate and many more.

I tried all vegetarian variants. Of all the items I liked Crunchy Joe Burger and Ugly Strawberry Donut the most. I am unable to describe the food as good as other food bloggers- should learn from them.

Dev Amritesh demonstrating a product to bloggers

Dev told the story of mustard sauce they are using. They originally wanted to use  Wasabi Sauce but instead are using Kashundi mustard sauce, procured from a vendor in Kolkata.

With Dev Amritesh

Below are some related information I gathered during Q and A with Dev Amritesh

-   Dunkin Donut sources about 80%+ of ingredients locally. Rest is imported. Mostly the dough used for donuts is imported from Australia and other parts, as Indian wheat is not very suitable for donuts

-   Dunkin Donut plans to open 3-4 more outlets in Chennai within next 4-6 months. Location hunt is currently ON.

-   There is no product that is offered in US but NOT offered in India. But other way round is possible.

-   Dunkin Donuts competes with all brands that offer premium coffee and snacks- such as Starbucks, Burger King and the likes

-   In America, Donut is a breakfast item. But in India no one prefers it for breakfast and stores themselves open by 11 AM. So it is more of a snacks/lunch/dinner offering.

Dunking Donuts Chennai branch has opened for public today, 23rd May 2015 at Pheonix market city, Velachery.

Win Free Donuts for an Year!

That is the catch-line used by Dunkin Donuts to get your attention. Below are the finer details of this offer:

• On the opening day, customers who buy a bag of donuts will get a booklet, which will have 365 dated coupons
• On each day, one coupon can be used to get a free donut.
• In order to get a free donut, customer needs to buy something- anything at the outlet- cheapest item being veg crunchy Joe Burger at  Rs 49
• Coupons are valid at any Dunkin Donut Store all around India, not necessarily in Chennai
• Coupons can’t be clubbed together or redeemed in advance- each coupon needs to be used on that specific day- not a day before, not a day after.

If you’re a die-hard fan of burgers or have a store closer to you then it is worth. If not, the cost and logistics involved in redeeming this free burger might not be worth it.

Goodies for first 500 customers!

First 500 customers who make purchases at the new store stand to get a goodies bag containing above said booklet with 365 coupons, a Dunkin Donut Mug and few other gifts/discount coupons. (1. 50% off on minimum bill of Rs 500, 2. 25% off on minimum bill of Rs 500, 3. Get 6 donuts free with every order of Rs 500, 4 Any Burger + Coke can for Rs 120 (veg) and Rs 150 (Non-veg))  In some cities where Dunkin Donut branches are located on high streets (streets with open access all through the day, not like malls which open and close at pre-defined timings) customers often queue up to get these goodie bags. Let us see how Chennai receives Dunkin Donuts. Phoenix Mall opens to customers only late in the morning, so  customers will  have to wait.

With fellow bloggers at Dunkin Donuts shop in Velachery during pre-launch event. Photo courtesy- Bhushavali

Note: Dunkin Donut has plans to offer door delivery- but that is not right away. Unlike Domino's door delivery is not a focus for Dunkin Donuts. Also Mall outlet is not ideal for door delivery- that is best done from high street stores. There is NO 30 min or free offer!

I didn't carry DSLR- most of the photos are taken using GoPro and MotoE. Rajesh has better pictures in his post. It was nice meeting Sandeep Varma, Bhushavali, Sorav Jain and other bloggers during the event.

I could realize that lots of thinking and study has gone in the making of each of Dunkin products. Each of them have a story, something unique about them and have an identity for themselves. I wish all the success to Dunkin Donut Chennai.