This report would undoubtedly have experienced a completely different turn if Dunkin ‘, this American brand famous for its donuts and which has just settled in France, had opened the doors of its production laboratory to us. Or if the director who pilots the brand’s deployment on French territory, had accepted our interview requests.
“Given the size of Dunkin’en France today, it seems complicated to have a production site only for these two shops”, deciphers Denis Hennequin, ex-CEO of McDonald’s France and Europe, which perfectly knows what it is to deploy an American food brand like Dunkin’s territory.
A buoyant market
“The experience of McDonald’s France has shown that such an initiative could be very profitable since France is one of the first most profitable markets of McDonald’s,” says the former manager of the Big Ears brand.
Moreover, on May 14, 2025, on the morning of the inauguration of the first Dunkin’Sur Les Grands Boulevards store, the immense tail did not delay.
A fan had even spent the night on the sidewalk to be the first to eat in the brand’s donuts. Another told our reporter on the spot that in 2020, she had asked the Dunkin’Pouqui CEO, the brand was not in France.
A few minutes later, on the sidewalk, the same woman bit the pastry: “Hmmmm! It’s exactly the same! In any case, the recipe has not changed from one country to another ”.
A manufacturing secret
In fact … the recipe has changed. And even more than Dunkin ‘themselves wants to admit. “Dunkin ‘adapts the offer of its products to the tastes of French consumers. The brand has created new recipes for the market and has reworked some, including frosting and fillings, in order to adapt them to the French palace, ”communicated the American brand at the time of its Parisian launch.
This Monday, August 28, for a month and a half that we had our first conversation with the Dunkin ‘Communication Agency for a month and a half. It is 8 p.m. and we are in Ivry-sur-Seine, in the eastern suburbs of Paris, in the parking lot in the basement of a building, making the trash.
A few meters away, in the same building, is what Dunkin’Préténtes as “a 300 m² laboratory” which supplies the two points of sale open this spring 2025.
In the Ivry car park, the yellow container is filled with boxes. One of the first people we find is marked “Dotsoriginal”. Doesn’t that tell you anything? It’s normal. This is the name of a brand of donuts intended for professional customers. The Dotsoriginal range is marketed by Europastry, one of the world leaders … of frozen pastry.
The company, based in Barcelona, is known to provide collective catering. Looking at the white labels stuck on the packaging, there are two recurring references: the “plain cronut” – which is probably used as a basis for the “cronut” sold at Dunkin ‘France – and the “Veggie Ring” – which probably serves as the basis for most donuts.
In the composition, an ingredient challenges us: palm oil, which a priori serves to fry the donuts. By dint of insisting with the communication department of Dunkin ‘France on the controversial character of this fat, they end up transferring a crucial document to us: the certificate which guarantees a palm oil labeled RSPO, therefore durable.
The name of the supplier is written in all letters: Europastry … To look at our investigation in full, press “Play”.
