Mister Donut

Mister Donut
Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Food and Beverage
Founded 1956
Founder Harry Winokur
Headquarters Osaka, Japan
Area served
 United States, Canada, Middle East, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Thailand, El Salvador, Malaysia and Indonesia
Products Doughnuts • Coffee • Bagels
Parent International Multifoods Corporation (1970–1990)
Allied Domecq (1990–2008) Dunkin' Brands
(2008-present)
Website mister-donut.com

Mister Donut (ミスタードーナツ Misutā Dōnatsu) is a fast food franchise founded in the United States in 1956, now headquartered in Japan, where it has more than 1,300 stores. The primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Lyons in 1990, most North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Mister Donut also maintains a presence in Taiwan, South Korea, Mainland China, Philippines, Thailand, and El Salvador.[1][2]

Corporate history

Early years

A honey-glazed churro from a Japanese Mister Donut shop in 2006.

Harry Winokur worked with William Rosenberg, future founder of Dunkin' Donuts. After Winokur broke his partnership with Rosenberg, he went on to create Mister Donut with his son-in-law David Slater in 1955, with stores in most of North America.[3] The Mister Donut business became so popular that Winokur and Slater decided to go into franchising.[3] As a result, Mister Donut began a rapid expansion that resulted in the opening of 275 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

International expansion

In 1970, Minneapolis-based International Multifoods Corporation, one of the world's largest and most successful food companies, acquired Mister Donut and its franchising concept from Winokur.[3] The first Mister Donut outlet in Japan opened in Minoh, Osaka in 1971.[1] Also in 1971, a Mister Donut training center was constructed in Japan.[1] In 1973, the French cruller became available in Japan stores.[1] In 1983, Duskin Co., Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, acquired the rights to franchise Mister Donut throughout Japan and Asia.[3]

On March 31, 1987, Elie G. Saheb and his business associates acquired the trademark rights for Mister Donut in the United Kingdom, and afterwards opened a Mister Donut pilot store and bakery in Fulham, London.[4] On May 2, 1988, the Mister Donut franchise sold the trademark rights for the European market at large,[4]

In the 1980s,[5] Mister Donut was the largest competitor to the multi-national company Dunkin' Donuts, which was founded in the United States as well 1950.[3] Mister Donuts was acquired by Dunkin' Donuts' then-parent company, Allied Lyons, in February 1990.[3] After the acquisition of Mister Donut by Allied-Lyons, all Mister Donut stores in North America were offered the chance to change their name to Dunkin' Donuts.[3]

Mister Donut sold its Middle East trademarks on October 14, 1995.[4]

Recent years

In 2004, Uni-President Group introduced a Mister Donut shop in Taiwan through the newly established joint-venture Mister Donut Taiwan Corp., announcing a goal to open 100 outlets in Taiwan in three years.[6]

The Star wrote in 2007 that "Mister Donut has gained a following among mostly younger Japanese for its American-style doughnuts, decor and music, becoming the country's biggest donut chain."[7]

As of December 2011, Thailand was the "largest market outside Japan for Mister Donut in terms of sales volume."[8] At the time, Mister Donut had opened stores in seven Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia. Of those stores, over 90 per cent were franchised.[8] Japan had over 1,300 "full-scale" stores, with about 1,800 Mister Donut outlets in the Philippines, with 200 of those full-scale.[8] There were also 80 Mister Donut stores in South Korea, 50 in Taiwan and 20 in Shanghai, while the first in Malaysia had opened that August.[8]

As of 2013, Mister Donut was the largest donut chain operating in Japan.[3]

On September 13, 2013, a survey by the Japanese retail research company, Softbrain Field, surveyed close to 6000 Japanese citizens of all ages on their favorite fast food restaurant. Mister Donut came in second, at 45%, behind McDonald's 68%, and above MOS Burger which had 33%. The other donut chain on the list, Krispy Kreme, came in number 7 at 5%.[9]

As of 2014, one Mister Donut store remained in the United States, outside of St. Louis in Godfrey, Illinois, while there were 10,000 stores worldwide.[5]

As of April 2015, "about 60% of Mister Donut customers purchase doughnuts to take out, often to their families," in contrast to many convenience stores, where they are often purchased to go with coffee.[10] At the time, Japan had 1,350 Mister Donut locations.[10]

In late 2015, the company adjusted its production process, "including the recipe and oil temperature, to shrink its batch size to between 20 and 30 doughnuts from around 70...The small-batch baking will ensure that fresher products are stocked on store shelves."[10]

In May 2016, plans were announced for Mister Donut stores to open in Vietnam through Central Restaurants Group (CRG).[11]

As of June 2016, in Asia Duskin was operating Mister Donut stores in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia.[12]

Mister Donut was headquartered in Japan as of 2016, and in Japan had over "1,300 stores, making it the largest donut chain in the country."[13]

Marketing presence

Mister Donut's Japanese mascot Pon de Lion

Mister Donut has a distinctive orange and white logo in the likeness of a moustachioed chef. More recently, the chain developed a set of mascot characters based on its donuts. One character in particular, "Pon de Lion" (ポン・デ・ライオン Pon De Raion, a lion with a mane shaped like its "pon de ring" (ポン・デ・リング Pon De Ringu) donut line) has become equally recognizable (if not more so) to customers in Japan.

One popular Mister Donut advertising jingle featured a song sung by two people in various settings:

Hey, Mister, that's a doughnut!
Hey, Mister, that's a Mister Donut doughnut!

Global stores

Asia

Today, the Mister Donut brand survives in Japan, Thailand, China, and the Philippines, and the company is expanding into other areas of Asia such as Taiwan and South Korea. In Taiwan, the chain is owned by a joint venture between Duskin and the Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, which also operates 7-11 and Starbucks stores in Taiwan.

Japan

In Japan, Mister Donut is owned by Duskin Co., Ltd., a part of the Mitsui Keiretsu. Mister Donut is the largest Donut franchise chain in Japan. Many Mister Donut stores in Japan house Yamucha sub-stores that serve a small variety of dim sum. These sub-stores are usually advertised with the phrase "San Francisco Chinatown", reinforcing the chain's American image even while selling Chinese food.

Philippines

In the Philippines, Mister Donut is the second largest doughnut chain, with Dunkin' Donuts as its main competitor. Mister Donut outlets are mostly stands, most often located inside shopping malls or other stores but sometimes in stand-alone stands along the street. Doughnuts from Mister Donut are also sold in 7-Eleven stores and KFC restaurants. Some locations sell coffee but mostly it focuses on donuts including as pasalubong, gifts by visitors to friends and family. The doughnuts sold are adjusted to the local market with smaller and therefore cheaper sizes and different flavors.

Thailand

In Thailand, Mister Donut has been a leader in the Thai donut market since 1978. It is known for its concept "Donut for Fun". Mister Donut has more than 320 branches across Thailand with more opening yearly. They include stand-alone stores as well as branches at shopping malls and supermarkets. In 2014, donut consumption increased 10 and 15 per cent in Thailand, with Mister Donut accounting for half of that increase.[14] In 2015, Thailand’s Central Restaurants Group announced plans to open 30 new outlets in 2015, bringing its store number to 350. The company stated that it would be able to sell "ts doughnuts in all 77 provinces by year end."[14] Central has also stated it is considering expanding Mister Donut in Malaysia, the Phillippines, and Indonesia.[14]

Europe, Middle East & Africa

On 31 March 1987, Elie G. Saheb and associates acquired the Mister Donut Trade Mark rights for the United Kingdom and opened the first Mister Donut bakery and pilot shop in Fulham, London. Saheb was credited for introducing the American Donut culture in Europe, and on May 2, 1988 The Trade Marks rights for the European markets were acquired followed on 14 October 1995 by the Middle East, and Africa region as well as some countries in South East Asia.

The Americas

Canada

Mister Donut operations downsized in the late 1990s; the final surviving three in the Toronto, Ontario area closed quietly around or prior to June 2006.

El Salvador

Mister Donut in San Salvador

There are numerous Mister Donut stores in El Salvador. These Mister Donuts also offer El Salvador's dishes such as pupusas. The franchise now counts with a few stores with 24 hours service[15]

As of 2014, there were 30 Mister Donut stores in El Salvador.[16]

United States

There were many stores in the Pennsylvania and Ohio region that remained Mister Donuts, mostly due to being close to then-existing Dunkin' Donuts stores. Nine Mister Donut owners formed a cooperative to continue to receive bulk pricing on materials. As of May 2006, these stores are now known as Donut Connection, serving the same items as Mister Donut stores. Hundreds of Donut Connection franchises are in the eastern U.S.[17] Some businesses retained the Mister Donut name; fewer than 10 stores continue using Mister Donut; most folded while others are now Dunkin' Donuts. Only one business still uses the Mister Donut name; it is in Godfrey, Illinois.[18]

Some locations of the Donut Connection partnership have retained the original fixtures of the original Mister Donut location. The Donut Connection store in Shakopee, Minnesota still has the orange motif and an original Mister Donut price board.

There are no plans of bringing Mister Donut back to the United States.

Mister Donuts specializes in coffee and doughnuts.

As of 2004, the first Mister Donut shop opened in Taiwan featured "doughnuts in 50 different flavors every day. Each flavor comes with a label indicating the level of sweetness." The store also sold around 15 kinds of drinks and beverages.[6]

In 2007, Mister Donut attracted media attention in Japan, when it admitted it had used outdated syrups in some of its drinks earlier that year.[7]

The company has created special donut lines for various events, for example creating soldier-themed doughnuts for National Doughnut Day on June 1 in Thailand, with funds benefitting military personnel in the country.[19]

In June 2013, Mister Donuts in Thailand debuted the SushiDo, sushi-themed donuts created as a part of "a special sushi-themed menu." At the time, they had not been added to the menu in Japan or other countries.[20] Options included "sweet donut versions of ebi, tamago, maguro, salmon, with sugary frosting replacing raw fish."[21] For Halloween, in October 2013, Mister Donut debuted Hello Kitty jack-o’-lantern doughnuts in pumpkin or strawberry flavor, as well as other seasonal pumpkin flavored items, including pumpking versions of their regular donut.[22]

As of 2014, the stores in El Salvador focused on a menu described as more "homey than foreign, offering national staples like pupusas and tamales alongside giant cream-filled doughnuts."[16]

There have also been items such as straw-berry glace donuts.[5]

In April 2014, the company launched a croissant-style doughnut, which proved popular.[10]

On May 27, 2014, Mister Donut collaborated with the Japanese fast food franchise Mos Burger on the MOSDO!, a burger using "a spiral-shaped chorizo, lettuce and spicy chili sauce sandwiched between Mister Donut's French Cruller donut as the buns." The menu item was released at Mos Burger stores, while Mister Donut stores at the time were selling "Mos Burger's famous rice burger with sweet bean paste, sweet potato paste, and custard cream stuffing."[23]

In April 2015, Mister Donut released new items such as the "Brooklyn Merry-Go-Round, which uses both cookie and bagel dough." At the time, the company announced that it will "launch new key products quarterly while maintaining its standard menu."[10]

In 2015, Japan revealed a summer doughnut menu themed to Brooklyn, New York. Japan Times explained that the menu was "'Brooklyn themed' in the sense it combines several foodstuffs together into one, in the style of New York-born fusion treats such as the Cronut." Items included "berry or lemon doughnuts cut in half, with a layer of yogurt added to the middle, or a chocolate option with sugary cream in the center."[24]

As of May 2016, "some 80% of the menu at Mister Donut bakery and cafe is made up of coffee drinks and the rest is doughnuts."[11]

In Japan, current items as of July 2016 may include the old-fashioned doughnuts covered in chocolate or cinnamon flavored. There is also a "chocolate almond croissant muffin," a salty donut, a chocolate-covered churro, a financier donut," and "Japanese-style matcha kuromitsu stick."[25]

In Japan, Mister Donut's "signature" is the "Pon de Ringu, with its cartoon lion mascot."[5] The Japanese stores also sell the "pon de ring, Mister Donut’s signature item that’s made of a connected circle of dough balls." Pon de ring varieties include the pon de angel, which is cream-filled, and the pon de kokuto, or a pon de ring with brown sugar.[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "History of Mister Donut". misterdonut.jp. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ "J. Lyons & Co.". Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sauter, Michael B. and Alexander E. M. Hess. Famous Restaurant Chains That Are Hard to Find. Page 2. 247wallst.com
  4. 1 2 3 "Our Story". mister-donut.com. Mister Donut. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Milian, Mark (February 13, 2014). "Mister Donut, Pan Am and Friendster Found Alive and Well". www.bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Ho, Yingrid (October 4, 2004). "Chain store Mister Donut comes to town". www.chinapost.com.tw. The China Post. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Mister Donut in Japan food safety". www.thestar.com. The Star (Toronto). October 31, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Rungfapaisarn, Kwanchai (December 5, 2011). "Plan to double Mister Donut stores in the next five years". www.nationmultimedia.com. The Nation (Thailand). Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ https://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/food/the-top-8-fast-food-chains-in-japan
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Nagata, Mami (April 7, 2015). "Mister Donut betting on novel treats to please snackers". asia.nikkei.com. Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Mister Donut bakes up plan to open outlets in Vietnam". www.malaysiamarketing.my. Malaysian Marketing. May 31, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Big Apple bought over by Japan's Mister Donut franchisee". The Rakyat Post - Osaka. 10 June 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Mister Donut - Chains We Wish Were in Florida". www.orlandosentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel. 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Mister Donut Thailand plans 30 new stores". insideretail.asia/. May 27, 2015. May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Mister Donut Inauguro Sucursal Platillo Merliot". www.sanmiguel.com.sv. San Miguel. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Smith, Jennie Erin (November 21, 2014). "MMister Donut for Mayor". www.newyorker.com. The New Yorker. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Donut Connection Store Locations". Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  18. ↑ 38°55′25″N 90°11′20″W / 38.923519°N 90.188823°W; see "Google street view". Retrieved July 20, 2012..
  19. ↑ "Sweet, Fat, but it's Okay, Sir, Send our love to the Deep South". www.mthai.com. mThai. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ Lynn Dinh, Michelle (June 27, 2013). "Enjoy sushi doughnuts at Mister Donut in Thailand". en.rocketnews24.com. Rocket News 24. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  21. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (June 26, 2013). "Sushi Donuts! Yes, Sushi...Donuts!". kotaku.com. Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  22. ↑ Lynn Dinh, Michelle (October 5, 2013). "Hello Kitty gets a jack-o'-lantern grin at Mister Donut Japan". www.japantoday.com. Japan Today. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  23. ↑ Takahashi, Yoriko (May 28, 2014). "MOSDO! - Donut burger & rice burger dessert?". Akihabara News. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  24. ↑ St. Michel, Patrick (July 17, 2015). "Mister Donut is building a pastry bridge to Brooklyn". www.japantimes.co.jp. The Japan Times. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  25. 1 2 Baseel, Casey (July 4, 2016). "Mister Donut is offering all-you-can-eat donuts in Tokyo!". en.rocketnews24.com. Rocket News 24. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
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