The American doughnut chain Dunkin’ Donuts announced this week that it would be collaborating with several Jumbo stores in Groningen starting in September, including what it describes as the first doughnut automat in the world at De Beren in the Korreweg neighbourhood.
Translation by Traci White
According to Sikkom, Dunkin’ Donuts, which has 24 locations across other regions of Netherlands, is coming to the north in style: the chain will open a pop-up store at the Jumbo Foodmarkt at the Euroborg on Wednesday, 4 September that will remain open through the end of the year.
Customers who have the Dunkin’ Donuts app will receive a free cup of coffee – the chain is also famous in America for its caffeinated beverages – and other discounts, and the first ten customers at the Euroborg location will receive free doughnuts for a year.
The doughnuts will be prepared fresh on site and transported to other Jumbo locations in the city, including De Beren, which will be home to the first doughnut automat in the world. According to Dagblad van het Noorden, the chain is also planning to open its doors in Drachten in Friesland in the near future.
The American doughnut chain is one of several export companies to set up shop in Groningen of late: Papa John’s opened its first location in the city on the Ebbingestraat, and the city is also home to the second most Domino’s Pizza franchises in Europe, second to London.
Domino’s future in The Netherlands is not exactly a sure thing, though: earlier this week, De Volkskrant reported that 69 of the 80 franchise owners in the country threatened to cut back on their payments to the parent company unless they have a more secure financial position. Franchisees of Dutch-owned chains such as DA and Intertoys have seen stores closing nationwide, but if trends over the past years continue to hold, American food chains appear to be on the rise.
UPDATE: 2:36 p.m., Friday, 30 August
As one of our readers pointed out on Facebook, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, another American chain, actually created the first doughnut automatic teller machine back in 2016 in London.
Photo source: Wikipedia
