Dunkin's Tactical Non-Traditional Growth

Selling hand held food for immediate consumption requires a focus on your customer predilections, shopping patterns; partiality for you branded products according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. If you want to sell incremental food and beverages to your customers you must open units where your customers are going.

Last year Dunkin’ Donuts, franchisees opened more than 86 new non-traditional locations across the United States. Non-traditional locations are a marketing tactic within Dunkin’s strategic plan for growth. 

One specific non-traditional location was hotels where they opened in hotels the ilk of Great Wolf Lodge, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino located in Las Vegas and Biloxi. Other non-traditional locations included grocer Price Chopper and 12 rest stop and travel center restaurants across the country.

Chris Burr, director of non-traditional development, Dunkin’ Brands  stated “Non-traditional restaurants continue to be an integral piece of what truly keeps America running on Dunkin,’ by consistently introducing and providing our level of convenience and service to the on-the-go customer in markets nationwide,”

Burr continued “We’re excited about the strong growth of the non-traditional sector in 2017, from being able to provide our signature cup of coffee at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, to offering our selection of baked goods to the students on the University of Hawaii campus, we’re eager to see where 2018 will take us.”

Non-traditional locations are a key part of Dunkin’s new electricity to drive top line sales and bottom line profits according to Johnson.  In the minds-eye of Johnson, there is one dominate element that will power success within retail and foodservice over the coming years and that is partnerships.

Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Retailers the ilk of Dunkin to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable in some form.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.