Dipping Into India, Dunkin’ Donuts Changes Menu

Dipping Into India, Dunkin’ Donuts Changes Menu

Adapting to Local Tastes, Chain Downplays Doughnuts, Adds Veggie Burgers

By Preetika Rana in the Wall Street Journal

NEW DELHI—Diksha Sharma visits her neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts three times a week but has yet to buy its doughnuts or coffee. The 23-year-old publicist goes there for the burgers.

“I don’t think anyone would come just for a doughnut,” Ms. Sharma said, tucking into a Dunkin’ Donuts Original Tough Guy Chicken Burger. “My grandmother only recently found out what a doughnut is.”

It is a harsh truth America’s doughnut chain has had to embrace in Asia’s third-largest economy: Many Indians just don’t like doughnuts, and even the ones that like them are unlikely to buy them by the dozen.

The Massachusetts-based chain has had to radically rework its menu in India and rebrand itself through an advertising campaign to let consumers know it offers more than a Bavarian Cream and coffee. In India it now has almost as many burgers on the menu as McDonald’s . All its burgers in India, like McDonald’s, are beef-free.

Dunkin’s decision to put burgers on the menu for the first time anywhere underscores challenges international chains can face adapting to cultural differences.

With a growing middle class that is just discovering the joys of eating out, India has been touted as one of the last frontiers for global restaurant chains. McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, Taco Bell, Cinnabon, Starbucks and most recently Burger King are among the many that have landed in the subcontinent with mixed success.

Some inventions for India become best sellers, like McDonald’s Chicken Maharaja Mac, a beef-free take on the Big Mac, while others disappear, like Cinnabon’s attempt to make a savory cinnamon roll with spicy ground mutton.

McDonald’s and Burger King offer chicken and vegetarian burgers, because most Indians won’t eat beef. Starbucks launched in India with potato sandwiches and continues to serve eggless cookies for people with dietary restrictions. Fried-chicken chain KFC offers a Veg Rockin’ Burger for vegetarians.

Dunkin’ Donuts’ franchise owner in India— Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. —was one of the pioneers of the Western fast-food business in the country. Eighteen years ago, the company brought Domino’s to India, which has grown into the country’s largest foreign food chain thanks to a menu that appealed to local tastes.

Its 700 outlets sell more local favorites like Tandoori Chicken and Peppy Paneer than pepperoni pizzas. Earlier this year, it rolled out a spicy banana pizza, which it hoped would be popular with consumers in Southern India.

Its pizza success, however, didn’t prepare Jubilant for its dive into doughnuts. When Dunkin’ first opened in 2012, its outlets were surprisingly empty in the mornings, which is when it gets most of its sales in the U.S., said Dev Amritesh, president of Dunkin’ Donuts India.

“A few people would come every day. But that’s not enough to build a business,” he said. “They were mostly expats trying to replicate their life here.”

Dunkin’ had made a big mistake, analysts say. Indians don’t start their days with frosted sweets, and they don’t pick up breakfast on the way to the office.

“The whole idea of Dunkin’ abroad is breakfast on-the-go,” said Saloni Nangia, the president of market-research firm Technopak Advisors. “In India, that concept doesn’t exist. People usually eat breakfast at home with their families.”

Jubilant said it had always expected a slow start and had planned to add more savory items to its menu. Adapting to Indian tastes for Dunkin’ Donuts has meant turning the menu and the timetable of its outlets upside-down.

Dunkin' Donuts added four beef-free burgers to its menu this year. Among them: the Original Tough Guy Chicken Burger, right, stuffed with fiery mustard sauce and a Mexican-flavored…

Earlier this year Domino’s invented a spicy banana pizza for customers in southern India, where bananas are widely grown and used in cooking. Domino’s India

McDonald’s Chicken Maharaja Mac is a beef-free take on the Big Mac. Hindus, who make up most of India’s population, don’t eat beef for religious reasons. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

In October, Dunkin’ introduced some India-inspired doughnuts—stuffed, topped and glazed with everything from rice pudding to saffron to crushed pistachios. Dunkin’ Donuts India

KFC’s India menu includes a Paneer Zinger, made with a spiced cheese patty. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

KFC serves a Masala Corn Rice Bowl in India. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

Dunkin’s Brute Tough Guy Veg Burger uses a black kidney bean patty. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

Subway’s Indian outlets have plenty of vegetarian toppings, including this spicy chickpea patty. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

Burger King launched in India in November with a beef-free menu. The fast food chain serves Mutton Whoppers, pictured, as well as Chicken and Vegetarian Whoppers. Burger King India

It launched in 2012 using the classic Dunkin’ Donuts model, opening at 7 a.m. to catch people on the way to work. It quickly found out that few customers were dropping by so early and its racks of doughnuts wouldn’t be consumed till late in the day. It was being treated as a pastry shop where people go for a quick dessert.

“That’s when we decided the role of the brand needs to change,” said Dunkin’s Mr. Amritesh. The company had to make the drastic shift from a “predominately a.m. brand” to “a p.m. brand.”

Dunkin’ pushed its opening hours to later in the day and spent close to a year coming up with a new all-day menu that didn’t depend on doughnuts or dunking. It introduced eight burgers with ingredients ranging from potatoes to spicy vegetables to pepper chicken. This year, Dunkin’ added four new ones, including the Brute Tough Guy Veg Burger.

The new burgers, sandwiches and wraps were so popular they now sell as many as doughnuts, and the company is living up to its unique Indian brand name, “Dunkin’ Donuts & More.”

The swift shift to sandwiches was a smart move, analysts say, because Indians saw Dunkin’ as no more than a pastry shop when it arrived.

“The general attitude of people was, ‘Sure, I’ll eat a doughnut for dessert. But give me lunch first,’ ” Ms. Nangia of Technopak said. “You can’t change people—at least not overnight—so Dunkin’ was smart enough to change itself.”

Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t disclose its sales figures but said it has been so successful that it is confident it can grow from around 35 outlets in India today to 100 by 2017.

In October, for the Hindu festival of Diwali, the coffeehouse introduced some India-inspired doughnuts—stuffed, topped and glazed with everything from rice pudding to saffron to crushed pistachios. According to Mr. Amritesh, the top-selling doughnuts here are “Death by Chocolate” and “It’s a Mistake,” a white chocolate doughnut topped with guava and chili.

Some of the lessons Dunkin’ Donuts has learned in India—like the power of diversifying the menu—will now be applied in its relaunch in the next few months in Brazil, where it closed in 2005.

So far in India, the company seems to be benefiting from joining the global burger wars.

The Dunkin’ Donuts in New Delhi’s posh Green Park neighborhood was packed on a recent evening. Most customers were munching on burgers, a few of them had doughnuts set aside for dessert.

“I’m crazy about burgers,” said Ms. Sharma, the publicist. “It goes against their whole identity of course. But as long as it’s tasty, I don’t care.”