Dunkin’ Donuts is headed back to Canada

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]Well, America runs on Duncan. That's the slogan of the well-known US coffee and donut change. Will Canada run on Duncan?

[00:00:08]It's coming back. It's going to have another go round. Canadian restaurant operator Foodtastic has signed a franchising deal to open hundreds of Duncan Donuts locations across Canada and the first one could open as soon as later this year. Let's hear from Peter Mammas, president and CEO of Foodtastic.

[00:00:25]Peter, thanks very much for joining us today.

[00:00:29]Oh, thank you for having me. Uh that is quite an ambitious project you have going. You want to have the first one open uh in in about 6 months roughly and hundreds across the country. How are you planning to put all this together?

[00:00:43]Uh well, Foodtastic we already own about 1,200 restaurants in Canada. We have several different brands. So, we're kind of used to opening stores and uh uh we open about two restaurants every single week um and bringing Duncan back here usually takes us about 6 months from start to finish. So, uh finding a franchisee, disclosing, uh finding a location, uh making the plans and building it out. So, we kind of see the first few stores opening uh late this year, early 2027. And where do you see uh where do you see the first ones opening and across the Is it going to be across the country? Regional?

[00:01:20]Yeah, so the first 24 months we're going to concentrate on Quebec and and Ontario. Uh so, you know, we want to build the stores in in uh uh the GTA and Montreal. Uh so, we'll be focusing on on those two major areas.

[00:01:32]After which probably in around 24 months, uh we'll be looking to open in Alberta, in the Maritimes, and BC. So, uh we'll spread across the country. Now, Duncan Donuts has been here before and it left. What makes you think this time will work and it Are things all settled in Quebec?

[00:01:49]Yes, everything's settled. I mean, uh that was many years ago. I I don't think even think Foodtastic existed when the last Duncan was here. So, we just started this company, uh roughly 10 years ago.

[00:01:59]And that's that's the main difference.

[00:02:01]It's you know, we bought the Canadian rights. We're Canadian owned company.

[00:02:05]We're we're based in Montreal and Toronto.

[00:02:07]And we have boots on the ground. So we're going to have local support that support the franchisees.

[00:02:13]We're going to leverage all our other brands as far as marketing buys and uh uh people on the ground. So I think the the support and the Canadian ownership is going to help the brand here make a comeback.

[00:02:29]And and have you had have you had interest, people reaching out?

[00:02:33]Well, it's been kind of confidential, so there has been a few leaks, but honestly the response we're getting today I think we're going to probably be able to open one Duncan every week in around 12 months from now. So we'll be opening about 50 a year going forward. And how do you compete with Tim Hortons? I mean they it feels like they have a lock here. What what are you going to do different that will get people in?

[00:02:59]I think Duncan is you know, Inspire has done a great job revitalizing Duncan.

[00:03:05]It's become a younger, cooler brand.

[00:03:07]It's more in tune with the millennials and the Gen Zs.

[00:03:11]So you look at their products, they've got refresher, they've got cold brews, they've got great breakfast offerings. I think we're going to resonate with the 13 to 35 crowd.

[00:03:21]And that's where we're going to go after. So we're going to you know, try to get all the new up and coming beverage drinkers and carry them along as we go. And with food options with some of the younger people, you're going to go with a healthier healthier fare?

[00:03:37]Oh, definitely. So we actually are going to tweak a few of the items coming in from the states. So you know, being fantastic we're kind of privileged. We have over seven chefs and two drink experts. So we're going to adapt what we need to the market, for sure.

[00:03:53]And are you worried at all coming in at a time when America's not the most beloved neighbor for Canada right now?

[00:04:00]Worried about any backlash about that?

[00:04:03]Um, you know, like like I said, Foodtastic bought bought the rights here to Canada, so we are a Canadian company.

[00:04:09]We're we're based in Montreal and Toronto. We pay taxes here. The franchisees are all going to be Canadians.

[00:04:15]So I think we'll get over that. As far as the Canada-US relations, you know, they've been our our best friends for for decades. And you know, we're we're having a little turbulence here, but I think in the future I think those relationships are going to get rebuilt.

[00:04:32]So, you know, I'll leave that up to Mr. Carney, but I'm sure we're going to be on the right path in the future. And with the franchise owners, will former franchise owners be back in the fold?

[00:04:42]If they're interested?

[00:04:43]>> No, it's it's going to be all new people. So we'll we'll like we said, we just announced it today. So we're going to see uh uh you know, what the response is and try to work with our franchise partners.

[00:04:53]Like I said, we're a Canadian company.

[00:04:55]We have 1,200 restaurants here already in Canada. So I'm sure a lot of our current franchisees will look at the opportunity to bring Dunkin into their community. So we'll we'll privilege our our existing franchisees first. And where do you where do you see the numbers at? Where would you like to end up with your numbers with franchises?

[00:05:14]Yeah, well well you know, I I kind of like this one per week. So within 12 months we'll be on that on that scale and hopefully we could keep it going for for decades.

[00:05:24]And into but for now though the focus is Quebec and Ontario and then eventually Maritimes you want to go out west. When do you hope to be out west?

[00:05:32]Yeah, we think Alberta's a great market. BC's you know, we have a lot of stores in BC.

[00:05:36]We're doing great there as well.

[00:05:38]So you know, we're we're coast to coast.

[00:05:40]So we have stores from Halifax all the way to Vancouver, whether it's Milestones or Second Cup or Pita Pit or Quesada.

[00:05:47]So you know, we have we have a good base there that we can build on. And how do you see it fitting in with your other other brands?

[00:05:53]Uh I think it's something that we're not into right now. So, we have Second Cup.

[00:05:56]Second Cup's a premium coffee brand. Uh it's doing great. We're growing that brand. Uh but, you know, to compete with the McDonald's and Tims of the world, um we weren't in that space. And uh we've already brought Jimmy John's over uh uh to Canada. That's another Inspire brand. So, we kind of found that uh it would be a good fit to bring to bring Duncan back. Okay, Peter. Thank you very much for joining us today. We appreciate it.

[00:06:20]Thank you. Peter Mammas is president and CEO of Foodtastic.