A few years ago, the ever-popular donuts sparked a wave of queues on the streets of Taipei. However, due to the impact of the economic downturn, the market was shocked by rumors that Dunkin’ Donuts would be closing down. Its agent, San Shang Hong, quickly came out to deny the rumors and stated that it would only close one location at the end of this year due to the expiration of the lease. Another donut operator, Mister Donut, pointed out that it was not affected by the overall environment and would continue to open stores next year (102).
Dunkin’ Donuts currently has 19 stores across Taiwan, most of which are located in department stores. The three commercial banks stated that they would review all locations with poor operations or expired leases, and by the end of the year, it was confirmed that only one location would be closed due to expiration of the lease, and not all of them would be withdrawing from Taiwan.
However, the three companies also admitted that Dunkin’ Donuts’s slow market expansion has made its operations in Taiwan challenging. In addition, the high royalties charged by the US head office have indeed created an operational burden.
Compared to Dunkin’ Donuts’ closure, its biggest competitor, Mister Donut, currently has 54 stores, with 4 more stores added compared to last year (100). It is expected to still have plans to expand stores next year, and there is no sign of it being affected by the economic downturn. Mister Donut said that because Chinese people are quite picky when it comes to sweets, they regularly launch donuts with different flavors, while also conducting promotions during specific seasons and periods.
Since Dunkin’ Donuts is an American-style donut with a sweeter taste, some consumers find it easy to get tired of it. Mister Donut, on the other hand, comes from Japan and is more in line with Oriental tastes. In addition, Mister Donut often launches seasonal products and constantly updates its flavors, so it is obviously more popular in Taiwan.
Market analysts believe that as spending power shrinks, people are starting to drink less coffee and eat less desserts, but Mister Donut is not affected. This shows that in addition to the key factor of product taste, rich marketing activities and novel peripheral products can also attract die-hard fans to pay.
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