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Dunkin' Brands relies on culinology for product innovation
November 3, 2009
Dunkin' Donuts recent launch of its new chicken and tuna sandwiches is just one example of the company's culinary development team's innovations. Notice the name: culinary development, not research and development.
Stan Frankenthaler, director of culinary development for Dunkin' Brands, has developed other innovations that help the coffee and donut giant attract new customers — including the health conscious — and succeed in the lunch and dinner dayparts. Those offerings include a new lowfat muffin and the DDSmart egg-white flatbread sandwich line.
The bagel and flatbread sandwiches were natural menu extensions once the chain began offering bagels and croissants, Frankenthaler told The Providence Journal. It's all about offering what the Dunkin' customer wants.
From The Providence Journal:
Any restaurant, fast or otherwise, can use food science to build a menu, (Frankenthaler) said. But Dunkin's kitchen practices culinology, which blends the culinary arts and food technology to pull together a menu that boasts seasonal items and an ever growing menu of food.Frankenthaler is a much celebrated Boston chef who ran his own restaurant, Salamander, after working for Jasper White. In 2005 he joined Dunkin' Brands, which includes Baskin Robbins.He said his culinary department resembles a restaurant model today. He has an assistant or sous chef, Michael McEwen; a bakery chef (like the pastry chef); a savory chef (making the non-sweets); and a beverage specialist whose expertise in coffee would rival that of a star mixologist behind the bar. That's why Dunkin' comes up with new combinations — say, a new iced tea paired with a flatbread.
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