Slate.com has a story that probably will be replicated in many venues over the coming months – a taste test that compares the coffee products sold by Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ donuts. The competition among these three retail giants has grown ever more intense in recent months, with a recessionary environment creating an opportunity for the latter two retailers to challenge Starbucks, which virtually created the gourmet coffee market on a mass scale.
It is a long and complicated piece, unscientific in the sense that the testing was done by six staffers who are addicted to caffeine, but rigorous in the sense that the same criteria and methodology were applied across the board.
The result: Dunkin’ Donuts came in first, McDonald’s came in second, and Starbucks was dead last.
It is a long and complicated piece, unscientific in the sense that the testing was done by six staffers who are addicted to caffeine, but rigorous in the sense that the same criteria and methodology were applied across the board.
The result: Dunkin’ Donuts came in first, McDonald’s came in second, and Starbucks was dead last.
- KC's View:
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Everybody is going to be getting into this act. High profile competition does that.
Ultimately, I suspect, Starbucks devotees are not going to switch their allegiances because of such results. My father-in-law likes to say, “Where taste is concerned, there is no dispute.”
