Regular Dunkin\u2019 Donuts customers in Chicago are slowly shifting to alternative coffee sellers after an 8% price increase at the popular franchise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came in with exactly $2.88 like I do every morning, but my coffee came out to over $3,\u201d said Gustavo Puentes, a regular customer at the Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of 65th Street and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago\u2019s south side. “I thought the worker charged me the wrong size but the price is just higher now\u201d.<\/p>\n
With price increases of menu items such as the medium iced coffee, which has jumped 57 cents, along with discontinuing\u00a0 popular food combo deals, Dunkin\u2019 Donuts has become significantly more expensive.<\/p>\n
A report by analytics firm Robert W. Baird mapped out Dunkin\u2019 Donuts locations in Chicago in comparison to those of Starbucks. The analysis reflects that Starbucks tend to be located in affluent neighborhoods, such as downtown and the northside. Dunkin\u2019 Donuts, however, is seen more in the \u201cless affluent southside and more to the west,\u201d Darren Tristano, president of the Chicago-based foodservice industry consultant Technomic, told the Boston Globe<\/a>. \u201cStarbucks skews towards higher income, while Dunkin\u2019 Donuts is more middle income.\u201d<\/p>\n Because a majority of Chicago\u2019s Dunkin Donuts are located in middle and lower income neighborhoods, the recent price jumps put a bigger squeeze on those customers. \u201cA 75-cent increase will mean a lot more to someone in the working class than it would for someone who makes $100,000 a year,\u201d said Clayton Smith, a business and marketing professor at Columbia College Chicago. Smith is also the co-founder of Reconstruction Coffee Roastery, which sells coffee beans for $15 per 12 oz bag. \u201cIt makes sense for someone who\u2019s trying to make ends meet to get cheaper coffee from McDonald\u2019s or 7-Eleven,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Dunkin\u2019 Donuts raised its prices, in part, because the cost for coffee in general has increased due to a global shortage. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem and a challenge for all coffee growers right now,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThe shortage stemmed from crop related struggles in Brazil, which is a main source of coffee in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n