Coffee/Snacks
-- Restaurants & Institutions, September 1, 2009
Who Goes Most
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55% of consumers visited at least one of the coffee or snack concepts included in R&I's Consumers' Choice in Chains survey in the past year. Women and millennials (ages 26 and younger) are among the demographic groups most likely to patronize these chains. Geographically, residents of the Northwest are the biggest coffee drinkers.
What Consumers Want from Coffee/Snack Chains
Consumers were asked how they rate—on a scale of 1 (not very important) to 5 (very important)—the importance of eight attributes in choosing a coffee or snack chain. The chart below shows how patrons' opinions have changed in the past year.
| Attribute | 2009 | 2008 |
| 1. Food Quality | 4.35 | 4.33 |
| 2. Cleanliness | 4.22 | 4.25 |
| 3. Value | 4.16 | 4.16 |
| 4. Service | 4.11 | 4.12 |
| 5. Convenience | 4.07 | 4.04 |
| 6. Reputation | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| 7. Menu Variety | 3.85 | 3.84 |
| 8. Atmosphere | 3.68 | 3.68 |
| Platinum | Gold | Silver | |
| Starbucks | Krispy Kreme | Dunkin' Donuts | |
| Overall Score | 65.5 | 63.6 | 54.7 |
| The Chain | Headquarters: Seattle CEO: Howard Schultz Units: 16,729 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 4 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 88% Visited in past 12 months: 32% Plan to return: 88% | Headquarters: Winston-Salem, N.C. CEO: Tim Morgan Units: 523 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 52 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 79% Visited in past 12 months: 14% Plan to return: 85% | Headquarters: Canton, Mass. President: Will Kussell Units: 8,835 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 10 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 87% Visited in past 12 months: 27% Plan to return: 88% |
| Why It Won | Consumer cachet: In an appeal to convenience and value-seeking guests, Starbucks launched Via instant coffee in Seattle and Illinois in February; a nationwide rollout is planned for September. Additionally, the chain reformulated its food menu (again) in June to eliminate the use of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes and flavors. | Consumer cachet: On National Doughnut Day, June 5, Krispy Kreme joined the freebie-offering crowd by giving away one doughnut per customer. The North Carolina-based company, which entered into an agreement with the NFL's Carolina Panthers last month to sell its products at Bank of America Stadium, is testing cheaper, smaller prototypes. | Consumer cachet: The Dunkin' Run mobile application, launched in June, lets customers coordinate group orders via their smartphone and an interactive Web site. Capitalizing on the popularity of its Coolatas and iced coffees and on consumers' warm reception of cold summer beverages, the chain introduced a frozen cappuccino in July. |
| Overall Score | Atmosphere | Cleanliness | Convenience | Food Quality | Good Reputation | Menu Variety | Service | Value | |
| Note: Overall Score is an index; percentages for each attribute represent respondents who rated the chain a 4 or 5 on a scale of a low of 1 to 5. | |||||||||
| 1. Starbucks | 65.5 | 70% | 73% | 72% | 71% | 79% | 58% | 69% | 36% |
| 2. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts | 63.6 | 52 | 62 | 55 | 78 | 78 | 55 | 60 | 56 |
| 3. Dunkin' Donuts | 54.7 | 38 | 49 | 61 | 59 | 64 | 53 | 51 | 53 |
| 4. Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels | 50.3 | 31 | 43 | 50 | 64 | 61 | 36 | 48 | 44 |
| 5. Cinnabon | 49.0 | 33 | 46 | 41 | 67 | 61 | 35 | 44 | 42 |
| 6. Mrs. Fields Cookies | 45.8 | 35 | 42 | 42 | 62 | 52 | 43 | 39 | 35 |
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