Time to Judge the Donuts: Dunkin' Donuts Announces a Dozen Finalists for 'Create...

Time to Judge the Donuts: Dunkin' Donuts Announces a Dozen Finalists for
'Create Dunkin's Next Donut' Contest

Americans can vote for their favorite finalist online; Grand prize winner to
be announced on National Donut Day, June 5

CANTON, Mass., May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans channeled their imagination
and love of donuts into a culinary treat of their own design for Dunkin'
Donuts' first-ever "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. From nearly 130,000
donut contest creations submitted online, Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day,
everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, today announced 12 finalists who
will compete for the chance to win a $12,000 grand prize and have their
winning donut sold in participating Dunkin' Donuts locations throughout the
country.

Americans can vote for their favorite finalist online at
www.dunkindonuts.com/donut. The lucky dozen includes:

-- "A Nutter One" - A chocolate butter kreme-filled donut with
peanut butter icing and chopped Reese's(R) Peanut Butter Cups
(Carol D'Angio, Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
-- "Bodacious Banana" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with
chocolate icing topped with shredded coconut (Christine Roman,
Ellenville, NY)
-- "Chocolate Monkey" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with
chocolate icing topped with Hershey(R)'s Milk Chocolate shavings
(Michelle Ventura, Cranston, RI)
-- "Economic Crunch" - A cake donut with chocolate icing topped
with graham cracker crunch and butternut crunch (Michael McNeil, Aliso
Viejo, CA)
-- "Frozen Assets" - A chocolate mint Bavarian-filled donut with
white icing topped with blue and green sprinkles (Kimberly Brooks,
Orlando, FL)
-- "Grandma's Blueberry Maple Donut" - A blueberry cake
donut with maple icing topped with graham cracker crunch (Caitlyn
Vandervelde, Coventry, RI)
-- "Mexican Hot Chocolate" - A chocolate cake stick filled with
marshmallow and topped with chocolate icing, Hershey(R)'s Cinnamon
shavings and Hershey(R)'s Vanilla shavings (Jane Boderck, Easton,
PA)
-- "Sm'OREO" - A marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate
icing topped with OREO(R) cookie pieces and graham cracker crunch
(Laura
Sherland, Smithtown, NY)
-- "The Graham Slam" - A marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate
icing topped with graham cracker crunch and white sprinkles (Nevrie
Dauti, Wayne, NJ)
-- "The King" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with peanut butter
icing and chopped peanuts (James Smith, Mount Vernon, NY)
-- "Toffee For Your Coffee" - A glazed, sour cream cake donut
topped with chopped Heath(R) Bar (Jeff Hager, Hoover, AL)

-- "Tour de France" - A chocolate cake stick with hazelnut kreme
glaze (Lindsay Piccotti, Clay, NY)

Finalists were selected based on the following criteria: use of ingredients in
donut combination, donut name, and donut story. To learn more about the
inspiration behind each donut, visit www.dunkindonuts.com/donut.

Each finalist wins $1,200 and will travel to Dunkin' Donuts' University in
Braintree, Massachusetts for a bake-off before Dunkin' Donuts' culinary team
and company leaders, along with Paul Mullins, author of Glazed America: A
History of the Doughnut, and Diane Werner, food director for Taste of Home,
the #1 cooking magazine in the country. The winning donut will be selected
based on the outcome of the bake-off and America's online public voting. The
grand prize winner of the "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest will be
unveiled on National Donut Day, June 5, 2009.

"We were absolutely amazed at the number of entries into our contest, and the
incredible creativity and originality of all of the submissions," said Frances
Allen, Dunkin' Donuts' Brand Marketing Officer. "Clearly donuts create
passion and delight among Americans, especially in these challenging times
when people are seeking small moments of happiness. We salute our dozen
finalists and everyone who participated in the contest to celebrate the joy
and fun of donuts."

Dunkin' Donuts has led the donut category for nearly 60 years, selling 2.5
million donuts and Munchkin(TM) donut hole treats every day.

About Dunkin' Donuts
Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite every day, all-day stop
for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the
regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and
muffin categories, and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world.
Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee
category by Brand Keys for three years running. The company has more than
8,800 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide. In 2008, Dunkin' Donuts' global
system-wide sales were $5.5 billion. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Dunkin'
Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands, Inc. For more information, visit
http://www.DunkinDonuts.com.

Contact:
Andrew Mastrangelo
Manager, Public Relations
781-737-5200
andrew.mastrangelo@dunkinbrands.com

Margaret Skrmetti
RF Binder
781-559-0437
Margaret.skrmetti@rfbinder.com

SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts

Andrew Mastrangelo, Manager, Public Relations of Dunkin' Donuts,
+1-781-737-5200, andrew.mastrangelo@dunkinbrands.com; or Margaret Skrmetti of
RF Binder, +1-781-559-0437, Margaret.skrmetti@rfbinder.com