As colossal coffee chain Starbucks struggles to keep up with past profit margins, its competitors continue to move in for the kill. Earlier this month, breakfast chain Dunkin' Donuts introduced its version of a recession deal. Now, in its latest ad campaign, the chain is claiming it beat Starbucks in a blind taste test.
In the campaign, Dunkin' Donuts, which is currently in the middle of a national expansion effort, airs a new TV spot and launched a website, Dunkin' Beat Starbucks, that will highlight the results of the taste test.
The blind taste test, conducted by A&G Research, polled 476 adults in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. According to a press release from the chain, 54.2 percent of participants surveyed preferred Dunkin' Donuts coffee to the 39.3 percent who preferred Starbucks coffee. Another 6.3 percent had no preference between the two.
I'm slightly surprised by the results: I recently had Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and found that I still prefer the coffee from Starbucks. What about you? Are you impressed by the study's results, or are you skeptical of the findings?
Diego Dolcini
Nocollection
Fly London
Dunkin > Starbucks any day of the week.
1I like the taste of Dunkin' way more than Starbucks. But if I need a pick-me-up, I'll go with Starbucks or something like them. But Dunkin definitely has a better taste.
2i'm kind of skeptical to be honest with you. i know that for myself i can VERY easily taste the difference between the 2 and i think that people who are real coffee drinkers will go for SBux....it's stronger. maybe that's why a lot of people like DD better since it's not as bitter or strong, but oh well. i guess this is like the political campaign, where people are talking down to or badly about the other brand.
3My mom always preferred the taste of DD coffee over Starbucks. She complained that Starbucks coffee was always too strong. She even buys the DD coffee grinds!
4I like DD much better. I am an everyday unflavored black coffee drinker -- but SB is just too bitter for me.
5I've never tried DD because we don't have any close so I really can't compare. I do know that I strongly dislike Starbucks. Every coffee drink I've ever had from one of their stores has tasted burnt and made my stomach hurt. I'm a coffee-aholic, but I just can't do their drinks.
6Dunkin Donuts has better coffee. Starbucks coffee is like tar. One time my sister had a full cup of Starbucks coffee when I was in the car with her and I literally had to open the window in the dead of winter because the smell was so strong it was making me nauseated. I love Starbucks for lattes and mochas, but the coffee is offensively strong. Dunkin all the way.
7PUH LEESE dunkin donuts coffee is NASTY I either make my own coffee or go to starbucks!!!!!!
8I am a real coffee drinker and I love DD coffee, prefer it over burnt bitter starbucks overpriced over sell out starbucks anyday.
9I really dislike SB's coffee. To me it tastes like the burnt, sits on the pan all day stuff that you get at a gas station.
10This is actually old news, my Mom worked at Starbucks about a year and a half ago and her manager there told this then...I love Duncan Donuts blueberry coffee I never really get plain coffee at Starbucks if I'm going there I am splurging for a caramel latte, macchiato, or White Choc. Mocha YUM! I wish they would bring back the Dulce De Leche Latte without cinnamon that was my absolute favorite!
11I actually prefer WaWa coffee. It's always fresh!
12I lovr my coffee extra strong so Sbux is for me... At least its not as strong as European coffee! That stuff is like motor oil!
13I never understood what all of the hoopla about DD coffee was - is it an East coast thing?
14WaWa is pretty good too. I had my first in Philly a few months back. I also like Ninth Street Espresso in NY and Sarabeth's iced coffee. I know these aren't on the list, but thought I'd mention them anyway
From one coffee drinker to another!
15I love the coffee at Nordstrom cafe. That's truly the absolute best coffee bar to me, but between Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts - I definitely have to go with Starbucks. I find Dunkin Donuts coffee bland, flavorless and stale.
16Dunkin for me. Don't care for SB coffee and cannot stand the people that go there.
17I love Dunkies! I can't speak for the rest of the cities in which these surveys were conducted, but Dunkies is a Boston institution. When I lived there, they had about 20 Dunkies to every Starbucks. People there have grown up on the stuff, so I wouldn't be at all surprised that Dunkies was preferred. Can't wait until they start to re-open Dunkies here in Minnesota!
I've been Dunkie-less for too long, dammit!
18I really think it has to do with what kind of coffee you like, if you like the european-type coffee, you will like Starbucks more; if you're a fan of the basic "American" coffee, you probably will like Dunkin more.
19Me? I'm a fan of Dunkin Donuts by FAR. If I want a different kind of drink, not a plain coffee, I'll get something fatty at Starbucks -- only for a treat.
Starbucks' bean quality is lower than Mcdonald's bean quality. And Starbucks actually burns their beans as well. So for those who like that burnt taste...I personally HATE starbucks and usually go to Coffee Bean.
20Uh, Dunkin' Donuts coffee is incredibly stale. I don't know if it's just my part of Brooklyn, but their beans are ashy and old looking. You can tell from the beans how the coffee turns out. I guess I like my coffee with flavor...
21I like my coffee extremely strong, so I prefer Starbucks. I've had Dunkin Donuts while I was visiting my fiance's parents (who live on the East Coast), and it tasted like coffee-flavored water. Starbucks isn't my favorite coffee place, though.
22I used to like Starbucks but now it tastes like brewed burnt dirt to me... I LOOOVE Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
23I must say, I am a total Starbucks addict...but, we don't really have Dunkin' Donuts around KC
24If Starbucks in the US tastes anything like the Starbucks in Australia I'd drink coffee from just about anywhere else first. Absolutely horrid stuff!
25I was raised in RI and live here again--DD is huge in Southern New England--HUGE.
26I don't know how they do it but they have a rabid following. The former Providence Civic Center is now the Dunkin Donuts Center (has been for years,now) and it fits.
There is a DD every few blocks.
It's a biased survey.
Dunkin' Donuts is HUGE in Boston. The majority of people here (not including me) prefer DD coffee to Starbucks coffee. Though, what they give you at DD isn't really coffee... It's a third of a cup of sugar, with some sweet cream and a little bit of coffee.
I'd be willing to bet that if they looked at the numbers in each individual city, and broke down who preferred what... Boston would be almost entirely for DD... And the other locations would probably prefer Starbucks.
Also, did they survey the same number of people in each city? I'd be willing to bet that far more people were surveyed in Boston than in any other city.
27Personally my all time favorite coffee is Cuban Coffee from the little cafes in Miami, but I prefer Dunkin Doughnuts > Starbucks any day. Just yesterday I got the Pumpkin Spice Latte for .99 and bought two big bags to brew at home of their regular and hazelnut. Starbucks coffee is too "uncoffee" (I know its not a word) but it doesnt taste like real coffee. I know in HS it was all the rage to get a Frappuchino before class, but the calories in that thing are ridiculous and it never actually tasted good. The only thing I do like from Starbucks are the Iced Teas.
28Dunks coffee tastes FAR nicer than Starbucks - no contest! Starbucks is burnt and horrid. I tend to like my coffee a little stronger, so I go with Dunks Iced Coffee. The only people I know who prefer Starbuck don't actually drink the coffee there, just the specialty drinks... and when introduced to Dunks, usually prefer it. I'm living in the UK at the moment and have my Dunks coffee grounds mailed to me here!
29DD for daily coffee, SBUX for the fancy schmancy!
30I've had WAWA on the Garden State Parkway once! WaWa coffee isn't bad at all!! I like DD daily coffee but prefer my Starbucks for lattes and expressos. Starbucks coffee does taste a bit grilled, burnt, and broiled. That stuff can't be good for my teeth.
31For straight up coffee, Dunkin is better than Starbucks, but Wawa is better than Dunkin. For lattes and specialty drinks, I think Starbucks has Dunkin beat.
32I'm still a fan of Starbucks, though I don't usually drink just straight coffee; I usually go for a cappuccino or a mocha. Surprisingly, I actually think McDonald's has quite good coffee, all things considered. Whatever beans they're using now is a vast improvement from before.
http://foodieandfork.wordpress.com
33WaWa has the freshest coffee ever.
I'm on a business trip in Boston right now, and it seems like there is DD on every corner, which is great, since it has WAY better coffee than starbucks!
34I definitely prefer Dunkin Donuts, especially their iced coffee. Starbucks is generally too bitter for me, except for the fancy drinks.
35DD compared Starbucks House Blend, not the milder, less acidic Pike Place that they offer now. SBUX started offering Pike as an answer to the new competition of fast food chains offering less expensive coffee's (McD's, Jack in the box, Burger King, etc). I bet if they did another taste test with the Pike Place, the outcome would be different.
I don't regularly drink coffee myself but I'd much rather go to SBUX than Dunkins any day, and that's mostly due to the customer service experience.
36dunkin all the way!
37SBUX for the win DD is pee water. AndI never heard of SBUX slinging mud at another company to make profits. DD sounds scared
38You people are all sheep at the Dunkin Donuts farm. Starbucks coffee has actual flavor in it so you call it bitter and awful. And that smell is the smell of great coffee brewed the right way. This is just a marketing ploy by Dunking Donuts, you can make statistics like that say anything. Starbucks is and always will be the superior coffee. Oh and Starbucks coffee is a little more expensive because they actually pay the people that grow their beans fair wages unlike hmmmm Dunking Donuts and many other chains. Suck on the bosom of knowledge weak minded individuals!
39That "actual flavor" is called "carbon." It's ASH, pure and simple, and thanks to Bucks' little word games with the names of their roasts, everyone is convinced "bitter = strong," to the degree that they've ruined a fair number of the little guys. The true flavors of coffee are much stronger in Dunkin' Donuts (or Mary Lou's), although you really ought to be careful which location, and even what time of day; since it's a common "first job/last resort" place, a lot of the employees will ruin the coffee (pre-grinding, mismeasuring, etc.) through sheer apathy. Of course, that's even more true for McDonald's...
(Try the little nepotistic, family-run franchises; they're usually the best.)
40dunkin dounts taste like sh*t..i will never drink from there coffee, or even go there. i know somepeople worked there, and i know how nasty is their chicken...i go starbucks all the way ...no dout
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