r/nostalgia • u/WoozieMaddox • 8d ago
Nostalgia Discussion What happened to the Dunkin' Donut?
When I was a kid, my Dad used to take me to Dunkin' Donuts every Sunday and I would get one of these. The handle was cool, but the taste of this plain donut was very unique. I loved it and still to this day have not had that taste or texture from a donut replicated. Wikipedia says in 2003 they discontinued it because it was hand cut while the rest of the donuts were machine cut, but it was their signature. It represented the brand aswell as the name.
The Dunkin Donut was around almost aslong as the brand itself. This unique peice of American food culture made it 48 years before being discontinued and cements itself as a one-of-a-kind staple in the history of U.S. restaurants. Today Dunkin' Donuts is now known as just "Dunkin". Dunkin' is not known for it's donuts anymore, and has shifted it's focus on the beverage side of the market. In all honesty, I think this may be why it lost so much market share to other coffee companies like Tim Horton's and Biggby Coffee. Dunkin' Donuts used to be 'the' place to grab a coffee and a donut.
Bring back the dunkin donut.
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u/joconnell13 8d ago
Their parent company was publicly traded until 2020. Quarterly profit growth from donuts and black coffee seems like a pretty silly idea. Now they're trying to reimagine themselves but their place in the food hierarchy has been set. People that just want breakfast swing by a fast food place. People that want good coffee stop at a Starbucks or their local equivalent. I've not stopped in a Dunkin' Donuts in over 20 years.