Menu Innovation

Innovating savory alternatives that are a slam dunk.

Dunkin’ Brands is one of the world’s leading franchisors of quick service restaurants serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods. The 100% franchise global business model includes more than 11,700 Dunkin’ restaurants.

How do we create sales-driving, brand-enhancing product platforms for a legacy QSR business? The future Dunkin’ customer wants to feel a sense of joy that Dunkin’ embodies, so how might we create that experience in a quick service format? On top of new news for a legacy business, how do we ensure what we’re creating is operationally feasible, manufacturable, and desirable from a customer lens?

We uncovered that opportunities for Dunkin included individual and on-the-run occasions and “Joy-Ful” eating experiences beyond the donut. Our design journey took us through familiar and nostalgic forms, with a focus on snacking, breakfast, and beverage occasions. We created a product innovation framework based on insights that Dunkin’ would leverage for future innovation.

We analyzed the food offering, operations, brand, guest experience, and worked from existing Dunkin’ research to create the design principles and innovation framework for future product development. From there, we focused on specific platforms to ideate joy-ful product concepts such as stuffed waffles and stuffed pockets, breaking boundaries between sweet and savory. We validated the concepts with target consumers and hosted a series of work sessions with the Dunkin’ team to score concepts on desirability and feasibility which lead to the down-selection of what to launch. Our final step was working hand-in-hand with the Dunkin’ commercialization team to line test products with partners to ensure that the manufactured products were as delicious as benchtop.

In 2022, Dunkin’ Biscuit Bites debuted and customers raved about the flavor. They since been sunsetted, but that was just in time for their next new product: Dunkin’ wraps, directly inspired by concepts we developed, hit the marketplace with a splash in the summer of 2023. Parade wrote an article exploring guest reactions to the wraps, writing “Is the hype about Dunkin' Donuts' two new wraps right? Redditors are answering with a resounding ‘Yes!’ [...] one fan can't choose between the two—so they're going to eat both—a lot.”