OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dunkin' dropped the “Donuts” from its brand name years ago. Now — at least across Nebraska, New Mexico and some other states — it doesn’t have doughnuts on the shelves either.
Dunkin' stores in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island in Nebraska all had no doughnuts in their cases Thursday and Friday and put up signs on their doors and drive-thru kiosks informing customers that the pastries were unavailable “due to a manufacturing error.” Some locations did offer “Munchkins,” or doughnut holes, on Friday.
Tyler Raikar, of Omaha, stopped by a Dunkin' in west Omaha early Friday after an overnight shift as a phlebotomist, seeking coffee and a chocolate cake doughnut.
“What? No doughnuts!” she exclaimed when told the location had none. “That's tragic!”
The trip wasn't a total loss, she said, as she was more interested in the coffee. Still, she was a little disappointed that she couldn't get a doughnut.
“Hopefully they have them soon,” she said.
Throughout Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the surrounding suburbs, store after store confirmed there’s a doughnut drought. Some employees chalked it up to a supply chain issue and others said simply that delivery trucks had been arriving without the cargo that the chain is most famous for. Employees said they hoped stocks would be replenished by next week.
A manager at the west Omaha Dunkin' location said Friday that she could not give more information on the cause of the shortage, citing orders from Dunkin's corporate headquarters. The manager, who did not give her name, said the shortage was a national problem.
But checks of locations in other regions, including St. Joseph, Missouri, and Boston — where Dunkin' has a near cult-like following — found no shortage of the sweet treats.
Dunkin’ is one of the world’s largest coffee and doughnut brands, with more than 13,200 restaurants. The company, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1950, was purchased for $11.3 billion in 2020 by Atlanta private equity firm Inspire Brands, which also owns Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings.
Jack D’Amato, a spokesperson for Inspire Brands, said there was an issue with doughnuts from a single supplier that impacted stores in Nebraska and some other states, although he did not name the other states. About 4% of Dunkin’s U.S. stores were impacted, he said. Dunkin’ has more than 9,500 stores nationwide.
D’Amato said the company was still looking into what the issue was and exactly how many stores were affected. But he said the company has already begun restocking some affected stores.
Previously known as Dunkin' Donuts, the company announced in 2018 that it was dropping “Donuts” from its name as part of a rebranding effort to increase focus on its coffee and other drinks, which made up of a majority of its sales.
Phone and email messages to Bryce Bares, who owns several Dunkin' franchises in Nebraska, were not immediately returned.
Bares told the Omaha World-Herald that some Dunkin’ stores received products from suppliers that were not up to standard and that he would not serve them to customers. He told the newspaper that the supply partners had corrected the problem and that his Nebraska locations should be offering doughnuts again soon.
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AP writers Dee-Ann Durbin, in Detroit; Michael Casey, in Boston; and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
