Dive Brief:
- Dunkin’ on Wednesday launched a $6 value meal for the fall season in conjunction with its seasonal limited time offerings like Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Apple Cider Donuts, the chain said in a statement emailed to Restaurant Dive.
- A spokesperson for the chain said the $6 meal deal, which consists of a medium hot or iced coffee, bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, and hash browns, did not have a specific end date but would last for the fall season.
- Other chains, notably KFC and McDonald’s, have added time-limited but fairly lengthy value offerings to their menus this year as fast food brands compete for consumer traffic.
Dive Insight:
Dunkin’s value meal could help drive traffic if consumers see it as offering a sufficient discount. To give an estimate of the discount offered by Dunkin’, Restaurant Dive compared the deal to the prices for ordering the separate items for pickup at a suburban Dunkin’ in Connecticut.
A medium iced coffee, bacon egg and cheese sandwich and hash browns cost $10.37 before tax compared to the $6 meal, for a discount of about 42%. Swap in a hot coffee and the separate items cost $9.77, or a roughly 39% discount.
This is comparable to discounts seen elsewhere. KFC’s recent expansion of its LTO value meal offered discounts ranging from 11% to 37%. Wendy’s, which has leaned on breakfast as a traffic drive in recent years, offers a 2 for $3 option covering hot coffee, sandwiches and small potato wedges.
Offering discounts like these isn’t a guaranteed remedy to sagging traffic, however. KFC’s initial value meal, which launched in April, failed to stanch the chain’s traffic losses, while McDonald’s has faced slumping sales despite its discounts.
In addition to its value menu, Dunkin’ is rolling out the king of coffee LTOs on Wednesday: Pumpkin Spice. Dunkin’s pumpkin spice debut for 2024 comes 12 days later than it did in 2023, when the chain launched its fall beverages on the third Wednesday of August. In addition to its pumpkin baked goods and other returning fall-themed menu items, Dunkin’s fall LTO includes two new drinks. The first is the Dunkalatte, a latte that combines coffee milk — a blend of whole milk and coffee extract — with espresso. The second is the Almond Spice coffee, which the chain said combined almond and pumpkin flavors.
