May 19, 2009 // Franchising.com // Canton, Mass. – Americans channeled their imagination and love of donuts into a culinary treat of their own design for Dunkin' Donuts' first-ever "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. From nearly 130,000 donut contest creations submitted online, Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, today announced 12 finalists who will compete for the chance to win a $12,000 grand prize and have their winning donut sold in participating Dunkin' Donuts locations throughout the country.
Americans can vote for their favorite finalist online. The lucky dozen includes:
Finalists were selected based on the following criteria: use of ingredients in donut combination, donut name, and donut story.
Each finalist wins $1,200 and will travel to Dunkin' Donuts' University in Braintree, Massachusetts for a bake-off before Dunkin' Donuts' culinary team and company leaders, along with Paul Mullins, author of Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut, and Diane Werner, food director for Taste of Home, the #1 cooking magazine in the country. The winning donut will be selected based on the outcome of the bake-off and America's online public voting. The grand prize winner of the "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest will be unveiled on National Donut Day, June 5, 2009.
"We were absolutely amazed at the number of entries into our contest, and the incredible creativity and originality of all of the submissions," said Frances Allen, Dunkin' Donuts' Brand Marketing Officer. "Clearly donuts create passion and delight among Americans, especially in these challenging times when people are seeking small moments of happiness. We salute our dozen finalists and everyone who participated in the contest to celebrate the joy and fun of donuts."
Dunkin' Donuts has led the donut category for nearly 60 years, selling 2.5 million donuts and Munchkin™ donut hole treats every day.
Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite every day, all-day stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories, and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for three years running. The company has more than 8,800 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide. In 2008, Dunkin' Donuts' global system-wide sales were $5.5 billion. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands, Inc.
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