CANTON Mass. Dunkin’ Donuts has decided it’s time to make the biscuits.
The chain of more than 8,800 doughnut shops on Thursday introduced a Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit Sandwich to its all-day Oven-Toasted menu. The sandwich includes scrambled eggs, American cheese and breakfast sausage on an oven-toasted buttermilk biscuit. The suggested price is $2.99.
Through Oct. 6, Dunkin’ Donuts said it would offer a sausage biscuit breakfast sandwich for 99 cents with the purchase of any drink in select markets.
“Our customers look to Dunkin’ Donuts for new and innovative ways to enjoy their favorite breakfast sandwiches,” said Frances Allen, brand marketing officer for Dunkin’ Donuts. “The biscuit is yet another choice we offer busy, on-the-go customers seeking delicious breakfasts made exactly the way they want it and at a great price.”
Dunkin’ Donuts cited findings from market research firm The NPD Group that said biscuits are the No. 1 carrier of quick-service breakfast sandwiches in the United States. Servings of biscuit sandwiches rose 6 percent for the 12 months ended in June 2009, compared with the same period a year ago, NPD found. The Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm had noted in another study this year that breakfast is eaten in the car more than any other meal, which highlights consumers’ demand for portable items during the morning meal.
Recent activity in the quick-service segment bears that out. Hardee’s introduced the Fried Bologna Biscuit on Aug. 24, and the chain rolled out another Southern-style biscuit product last year: the Pork Chop ‘N’ Gravy Biscuit. McDonald’s also has been part of the breakfast biscuit fray for the past few years, rolling out its Southern Style Chicken Biscuit to compete with the breakfast staple at chicken specialists Chick-fil-A, Popeyes and Bojangles.
McDonald’s, the pioneer in quick-service breakfast, has long served biscuit-based sandwiches alongside its popular McMuffin and newer McGriddles items.
Dunkin’ Donuts said it also recently added the Chicken Parmesan Flatbread Sandwich to the Oven-Toasted menu, joining other Flatbread Sandwich varieties such as the Ham & Cheese, Turkey Cheddar Bacon and Grilled Cheese. The chain also offers two breakfast Flatbread Sandwich flavors, Veggie and Turkey Sausage, as part of its health-focused DDSMART menu.
Dunkin’ Donuts, a subsidiary of Canton-based Dunkin’ Brands Inc., had global systemwide sales of $5.5 billion in 2008.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].