Sponsored By

Dunkin' Donuts introduces almond milkDunkin' Donuts introduces almond milk

Nondairy option now available at most U.S. locations

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

September 5, 2014

2 Min Read
Nation's Restaurant News logo in a gray background | Nation's Restaurant News

Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced almond milk as a premium nondairy option at most of its more than 7,500 restaurants in the United States.

Vanilla Almond Breeze Almondmilk is now available at about 75 percent of domestic locations. Parent company Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has suggested a 50-cent surcharge for adding almond milk instead of dairy to hot or iced coffee, although pricing is at the discretion of franchisees.

Dunkin’ Brands president for global marketing and innovation John Costello said in a press release that almond milk was being introduced in response to consumer demand.

“Over the past couple of years, based on an increasing number of customer requests, we began to explore options for expanding our menu with nondairy alternatives to milk and cream,” he said. “We believe adding Almond Breeze Almondmilk now gives our guests a unique and delicious new way to enjoy our famous coffee or lattes.”

Almond milk is enjoying increasing popularity in the United States, with consumption growing at an average annual rate of 66 percent since 2010, and now accounting for 46.4 percent of all milk alternatives, which also includes soy milk and coconut milk, according to the Almond Board of California.

Dunkin’ Donuts and its almond milk supplier, Blue Diamond, promoted the introduction of the product with an “AlmonDD Milk Adventures” Twitter Sweepstakes, presenting followers of @DunkinDonuts and @AlmondBreeze with almond-milk-themed challenges such as word scrambles. Participants who responded with the hashtag #AlmonDDmilk were entered for a chance to win one $100 Dunkin’ Donuts mobile gift card and a $500 grand prize.

The addition of almond milk, a product that first took hold in the United States among vegans and juice cleanse enthusiasts, is the latest change in coffee offerings at Dunkin’ Donuts as it continues to expand beyond its Northeast U.S. stronghold. Last week, the chain introduced its first dark-roast coffee at two new California locations and said it would roll it out nationwide on Sept. 22.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.

Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications. 

He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.

You May Also Like