YouSpeak: Dunkin’ vs Starbucks

Which is better?

November 18, 2013
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Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks are to coffee what the Red Sox and the Yankees are to baseball. Loyalists tend to be deep in one camp or the other.

On the revenue front, Seattle-based Starbucks would seem to have the upper hand: the company reported sales of $13.3 billion in 2012, compared to $6.9 billion for Dunkin’. Starbucks also has more than 20,000 locations spread across 6 continents, compared to Dunkin’ with 10,800, most of them in the United States.

But Massachusetts tells a different story. Here in the Bay State, Dunkin’—which was founded in nearby Quincy, Mass. in 1950—trumps Starbucks, with approximately 10 stores for every Starbucks location.

This week’s “YouSpeak” asks: “Dunkin’ or Starbucks?”

“YouSpeak” typically appears each Monday.

If you have a suggestion for a question you’d like us to ask, post it in the Comments section below.

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There are 5 comments on YouSpeak: Dunkin’ vs Starbucks

  1. I love this age old debate! I love Dunkin’s because I was raised on it as a Bostonian however as a consumer, I feel like Dunkin’s has a broader variety of coffee and food at a better value. Sure sometimes the coffee is watered down but, if you notice it in the store or even after, you can simply ask for another stronger cup. If I’m in dire need of a cup of coffee and there’s no Dunkin’s around, I will give in for a caramel macchiato venti iced or hot!

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  3. I also like this debate. As a person who started drinking café au lait at 6 years old, it’s been difficult to find a strong flavorful coffee that my mother used back then. Although we tried Dunkin, it was too watered down. I gave up on coffee.

    In 2010, a friend introduced me to Starbucks and not afraid to say that I’m addicted to it. I love going to Starbucks not just for the coffee, but the baristas who put a funky twist to their hunter green apron and black pants they wear and the interesting converations that take place while waiting for your coffee. The ambiance in their stores creates a fantasy of being in a cafe in Paris. There’s music, conversation and laughter. For some of us, relationships form with our baristas and the people in line.

    You can’t get that at Dunkin.

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  4. As an avid coffee consumer, I fall somewhere in between. Growing up in the heart of Mass, I have to love Dunks. However, when it comes to hot coffee, Starbucks blows them out of the water. Though, in the iced coffee game, its Dunks every day of the week. I am also not a big fan of fancied drinks, so the ridiculous named beverages at Starbucks do nothing for me. The peppermint mocha at Starbucks is better than Dunks, but Dunks puts the Hot Chocolate game on notice.

    When it comes to food, there is always a place for Dunkins whether it be the bagel, sandwich, or donut. But Starbucks has the pastery and cake game on lock.

    Though a matter of personal opinion, the two are pretty even, but Dunkins carries home field advantage.

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  5. I like Dunkin because it is quick, and easy and not as expensive as Starbucks. Starbucks regular coffee really isn’t that much better or worse than Dunkin regular coffee to begin with. If I want GOOD coffee I’ll hit up some place local like Blue State. Now that is some quality Java.

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