On the way to work I heard an NPR report on Dunkin’ Donuts and their plans for expansion into the South. You may remember that rival Krispy Kreme tried to do the same up North a few years ago, but were plagued with problems due to growing too rapidly. The difficulty to become established should come as no surpise because, as one interviewee noted, you tend to go with what is familiar when it comes to donuts.
My first exposure to a hot Krispy Kreme donut was in 1991 when I came here to attend college. Back then Chattanooga had a single Dunkin’ Donuts franchise, which for my dormitory hallmates was synonymous with the phrase “midnight donut run.” After all, they are better donuts. Krispy Kremes, while tasty when hot, turn nasty after only a few hours. They also have only one donut with multiple disguises. Whether Krispy Kremes have frosting, sprinkles or lack the hole in the middle; the sweet dough and glaze are exactly the same. Dunkin Donuts is all about variety in terms of looks, textures and tastes.
As an aside, both Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme both serve awful coffee (in spite of the frequent praise their java is awarded). Do not even get me started . . . you do not want to mess with the wrong coffee snob.
It is not often that I get to eat a Dunkin’ Donuts donut these days. Usually it happens once a year when we go to our family reunion in Pennsylvania. According to the NPR story, there are twelve franchises opening in the Nashville area. The Music City will serve as a test market for the sales strategy as well as new products. It will probably be a long time before we have Dunkin’ Donuts back in Chattanooga, but one can only hope.
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…I may or may not make a point of stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee and to buy a bag of the grinds for home brewing on my trips to the US
Before you make that decision, you should attend Coffee School first.
I have to agree with you about Krispy Creme. I’m not one to turn down any kind of hot fresh doughnut, but Southerners are really missing out when it comes to a real doughnut. When I was little, we lived in Minnesota and although we didn’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts, we had a bakery that made an unbelievably delicious variety of doughnuts. These “Northern” doughnuts were very different. My favorite one was huge, cakey, slightly frosty, had a wee bit of maple in it. Mmmm. Maybe they’re a German thing. I don’t know for sure.
Yumm Dooonuts! I live in the land of Dunkin’ Donuts (Krispy Kreme tried to enter our market, but only one or two stores) and they seem to have gotten smaller in the past year. We like the coffee! (Sorry Coffee snob) Karen is right, you can beat a good old fashion Midwestern bakery.
@Karen: We had these great German doughnuts in PA. They were a sour cream cake doughnut…called a fastnacht (as in Fastnacht Day, Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, etc.).
@Mary: You mean you can’t beat a Midwestern bakery, right?
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[...] Speaking of coffee, there is a Winter Roast Coffee Festival at the Chattanooga Market. For a $5 donation you can sample ten coffees from five local roasters. Proceeds benefit the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. The market runs all weekend long, extended for holiday shopping, starting today at 4:00 PM. [...]