Stop me if youโve heard this one before. JAB Holding Company is rumored to have interest in buying a coffee company. Word on the street (the Grub Street) is that the privately owned Germany investment company is looking to acquire Dunkinโ Donuts.
Thatโs right, the gajillionaires who own Peetโs, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Keurig, Caribou, and a handful of European chains have their eyes set on what American Runs On. โWho cares? Dunkinโs Donuts is a donut company,โ I hear you saying. Oh contraire, mon frรจre; the company has toyed with dropping the โDonutsโ from their nameโand has even done so at select locationsโbecause donuts are only their second best selling item. Can you guess what the first is?
If purchased, JAB would add 11,300 stores to their already robust list of breakfast-serving locations thanks to the previous acquisition of both Krispy Kreme and Einstein Bros Bagels.
At this point, if youโre at a chain in America that serves coffee and isnโt Starbucks, thereโs a pretty good chance itโs owned by JAB. But who knows, maybe this consolidation of power will lend some good things. Maybe we could start seeing Stumptown or Intelligentsia show up at Dunkinโ. Iโm not opposed to a high elevation Yirg and a donut. Or maybe, you know, our new coffee overlords will put us all on strict rations.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
