The Coffee Blog: Dunkin' Donuts

*Courtesy of The Examiner.

"Coffee enthusiasts will soon be paying less money to enjoy Starbucks coffee.

Michael Musto has reported on April 15, 2013, for the Village Voice, Starbucks Is Dropping Their Prices. Beginning sometime in May, the price of a 12-ounce bag of prepackaged coffee from Starbucks will drop about a buck.

Alexandra Ward has reported on April 15, 2013, for Money News, Starbucks Cutting Prices: Bagged Coffee in Grocery Stores 10% Less.

Starting next month, Starbucks will be cutting the price of its packaged coffee sold in grocery stores by 10%, with an interest in attracting new customers and in order to remain competitive with rival companies like Dunkin' Donuts.

Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson has said that prices will drop from $9.99 to $8.99 for a 12-ounce bag of Starbucks coffee beginning May 10.

Olson has said in a statement, "This will allow us to both enhance the value that we're providing our existing packaged coffee customers, and hopefully increase the frequency which they purchase Starbucks coffee, as well as attract new customers."

However, the list price is simply a suggestion and retailers are free to charge their own prices, and so some customers may not see a change. But, with Dunkin' Donuts lowering their prices, the pressure has been on Starbucks to compete more effectively by doing the same."

*Photo and story courtesy of Houston Press

Story courtesy of Houston Press,

"A recent Zagat survey revealed that we still consume coffee even if the price of a cup of Joe continues to increase while our economy struggles to get back on its feet. In fact, the average American consumes 2.2 cups of coffee each day, according to the Zagat statistics.

Although we need to cut back on our spending during this economic stage, Americans refuse to give up their daily coffee; in fact, they don't even want to at least cut back. As a coffee addict, I can attest to this mentality. If I don't have any sort of caffeine in the morning, I will have a guaranteed migraine by lunchtime. That's probably a bad thing, seeing as how I am only 21 years old and am that addicted to coffee.

This Zagat survey analyzed coffee consumption in America through how much Americans are willing to spend on one cup, their preference for hot or cold and which vendors they prefer.

Photo by Molly Dunn

In this survey, 65 percent of voters confessed that their coffee addiction and habits did not stop even if they were struggling financially. It seems as though coffee is a means of comfort for Americans, no matter how much it costs.

Surprisingly, only 23 percent of voters strictly made coffee at home rather than buying it from a restaurant or other vendor. More surprisingly, less than 10 percent of voters bought less expensive coffee beverages or smaller coffee drinks, switched where they bought coffee or overall drank less coffee.

A possible reason for this behavior is that coffee addictions are starting with the younger generation (I can attest to that). The majority of coffee drinkers get started around the age of 18, but recently that age has dropped to the ten-to-14-year-old age group. The younger they start drinking coffee, the stronger their addiction becomes.

The average cup of coffee costs $2.98, according to the Zagat survey. Meaning that habitual coffee drinkers pay $11.92 a week with one cup a day, $47.88 a month and $572 a year. And that's just with one cup a day.

Personally, whenever a vendor, such as Starbucks, rolls out their seasonal coffee menu or offers new coffee blends like their Blonde Roast or Vanilla Spice Latte, I can't help but try them out, causing me to spend money on beverages I probably could have done without.

Over the years, we have also seen fast-food restaurants offer a variety of coffee drinks on their menus. McDonald's has the McCafe menu with an array of flavors for hot and cold coffee drinks. Dunkin' Donuts also offers a coffee menu with America's Favorite Coffee -- you can even buy its coffee in stores to brew at home. This has added to the convenience of coffee in a majority of quick-service restaurants. The easier it is to obtain coffee, the more we will drink it.

Recently, Burger King unveiled its new coffee menu with more than just an option of hot coffee.

The chain plans to offer iced coffees with a variety of flavors, lattes and potentially cappuccinos. BK hopes to use this menu to compete with the likes of McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants that offer coffee menus along with their everyday food menus.