Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Coffee and a Doughnut

It's a time-limited offer:

"Dunkin’ limited-time offers aim to draw a crowd" by Taryn Luna Globe Correspondent  June 24, 2015

Restaurants across the country have started offering more limited-time offers over the past few years in attempts to increase traffic in a no-growth environment, said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant analyst at NPD Group of New York.

And yet I'm told the U.S. economic recovery and job market are roaring! 

You can't have both. You can't have corporate conglomerates that would be nece$$arily dragged along with it all reporting this $hit. Sorry to ruin your breakfast.

Total restaurant industry traffic, including business at fast-food chains, has remained unchanged at about 61 billion visits a year since 2010, NPD data show.

Riggs said restaurants introduce the limited-time products for specific purposes, from increasing lunch sales to attracting more millennials. Many establishments also use a brief sales period to test a product’s potential as a permanent menu item.

Yup, the millennials are making money, the seniors are all set, blah, blah, blah.

Related: Buying Back Stock 

Well, at least you now know where the money is going.

Eateries track sales data to determine whether a particular item drew in a new customer, took business from a competitor, or simply shifted existing buying habits.

“The industry is really challenged. It’s not growing, and it’s a real battle for market share,” Riggs said. “It’s very competitive, and we’re seeing a lot of [limited-time offers].”

RelatedStarbucks will close all La Boulange stores

And prices are going up!

The offers also allow restaurants to retain customers who might become bored with a stale menu and turn to a competitor, said Kelly Weikel, director of consumer insights at the Chicago food research firm Technomic.

Do I ever know that feeling, and it's not from the coffee!

A fresh menu is especially important to young people, Weikel said.

Forty-five percent of consumers ages 13 to 37 prefer to visit a restaurant that offers new or innovative flavors and ingredients, according to a recent Technomic study.

“It’s important with today’s very buzz-driven culture,” Weikel said. “You’re always tied in to a company that is trying something new. Brands that don’t do that can risk falling out of pace and not being top-of-mind with consumers.”

That's not the problem; the problem is the American con$umer has no more money.

************

Some products are seasonal and are introduced at the same time each year, such as Peeps doughnuts, offered around Easter, or pumpkin-flavored items released in the fall.

Occasionally, products are released as one-time offers and then graduate to the full menu. One example: The Big N’ Toasted, a breakfast sandwich with two eggs, four pieces of bacon, and a slice of American cheese piled onto Texas toast. The sandwich was so popular during its 2011 introduction that Dunkin’ made it a permanent product.

No thought of the unhealthiness of such a contraption. No concerns over obesity, it's just all bu$ine$$.

Related: Higher egg prices hitting shops, consumers

It's that pesky bird flu that you've heard very little about. 

May not be a Thanksgiving turkey this year, you know?

Dunkin’s executive chef, Jeff Miller, said his team spends a few months to as long as years to develop a product.

(Blog editor shakes head)

A bacon doughnut, for example, has been in the pipeline for more than 18 months. The first version featured two strips of bacon on top of a glazed doughnut. During tests in Providence, franchisees reported that the bacon was slipping off in the bag.

Had that Tuesday.

“It was no longer a bacon doughnut, but a doughnut with a couple pieces of bacon in a bag,” Miller said.

Now, Miller is formulating a new version, using crumbled bacon....

--more--"

You want to look over today's selections?

While sipping the coffee I happened to reflect upon that bu$ine$$ promotion piece and the fact that Dunkin' is the official coffee of the Bo$ton Red Sox -- whose owner happens to also own the Bo$ton Globe.

(Blog editor dumps rest)

NDU: Dunkin’ Donuts buys naming rights to Hartford stadium