Dunkin' Donuts Versus Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and McDonald's

For morning fare such as pipin' hot coffee and breakfast, where should you go? Dunkin' Donuts has undertaken a massive advertising campaign to convince Starbucks faithful drinkers that Dunkin' is the more "reasonable" and affordable option in this recession.

But aside from that, players like Krispy Kreme (regionally powerful) and McDonald's (an international heavyweight in breakfasts) offer low-cost coffee and morning snacks. Where does Dunkin' Donuts stand compared to all of the competition?

The first Dunkin' Donuts opened in 1950 in Massachusetts. Since then, the brand has enjoyed massive growth-it is hard to find an airport or train station without at least one Dunkin' Donuts outlet.

The franchise has a wide variety of donuts, the best of which are strawberry frosted or vanilla frosted donuts. One of the issues with Dunkin' Donuts, I feel, is that they go stale sooner than donuts from, say, the grocery store or Krispy Kreme.

I do not know the technical reasons for this. Dunkin' Donuts in New York City sells only trans-fat free donuts, as per the new city laws and regulations. I do not think this is the reason for the donuts going bad so quickly-they were going stale even before they switched to trans-fat free ingredients.

As for the coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, I find it to be excellent for the most part-and certainly more affordable than the morning brews at Starbucks. Ask for it straight up or with milk and sugar. Be warned, however, that if you ask for sugar you will often get quite a lot-expect a very sweet cup of coffee.

More recently, Dunkin' Donuts has also begun selling hot breakfast sandwiches similar to the muffins sold at McDonald's and Starbucks. I personally still prefer a single donut in the morning with my coffee, but that is just me.

Overall, I think that the franchise offers a great range of low-cost and quick morning foods. Of course, for the health conscious DD may not be the best long-term solution-instead, consider buying instant oatmeal and making it each morning. This will save you money and also lower cholesterol. Eating donuts every morning, on the other hand, will certainly not lower your cholesterol.

For me, donuts are one of those "guilty pleasures" that is perfectly fine as long as it is kept in check. Dunkin' Donuts publishes the calorie count for all of their donut products, so you can easily gauge how much "junk food" you are consuming each day or week.