Dunkin’ Starts ‘Smart’ Menu Options Next Week
Looking to lighten up that morning on-the-go breakfast or mid-afternoon coffee run?
For those who feel guilty ordering their coffee with extra cream, or downing a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on the way to work, Dunkin’ Donuts has announced it will launch its first menu of “better-for-you options” in stores next week.
The new menu, slated to launch Wednesday and dubbed “DDSmart,” includes new items, as well as more healthful versions of some of the chain’s existing menu options. All DDSmart menu items meet at least one of the following criteria: 25 percent fewer calories than comparable foods; 25 percent less sugar, fat, saturated fat or sodium than comparable fare; or ingredients that are nutritionally beneficial.
One of the new DDSmart options will be egg white flatbread sandwiches, which will come in two varieties: turkey sausage, with spinach and reduced-fat mozzerella cheese; and veggie, with peppers, onions, mushrooms and reduced-fat cheddar cheese. Both sandwiches have less than 300 calories, contain 9 grams of fat or less and are served on toasted multigrain flatbread.
Venture Franchising In Focus
A truly creative franchise and a great business opportunity.
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Read here the story of their success.
New Franchise Disclosure Rule
Richard Gibson, writing about franchising, for the WSJ has an article on the new FTC franchise rule.
He writes:
"Franchisers will have to list any lawsuits they've filed against franchisees in the past year.
Previously, only franchisee-initiated litigation had to be reported.
That means, for example, that a franchiser suing to collect late royalties from franchisees -- a possible indicator of a financially troubled chain -- would have to make that public."
This change is not a big deal, anyone with a pacer.gov account can find out far more about the legal and litigation background of the franchisor.
Next he writes about item 20 disclosure, how many transfers there have been;
"The revised regulations simplify how franchisers report franchise turnover, transfers and terminations for the past three years, which, again, should make a potentially troubled franchiser easier to spot.
"Under the old rule it was fairly easy to disguise store failure from a new franchisee coming in," says Carmen Caruso, an attorney who handles franchising cases at Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC in Chicago.
Carmen is a bright guy, and a good franchisee lawyer. But, neither Richard nor Carmen point out how to use the item 20 disclosure: take the number of transfers, assume that they are all merely failures, and divide through by the number of units open and you have a crude measure of a disaster risk.
But he does have one thing dead on:
"Like the 30-year-old rules they update, the revisions deal only with presale matters -- not issues that might arise after a franchisee has signed up."
Without a vibrant and successful franchisee association, once you have signed up for a franchise you are at the mercy of the ongoing good character of the franchisor - which may disappear in a heart beat because of the transfer, sale, or assignment of the system.