Good chances for a restart of the Dunkin' Donuts chain in the Netherlands, says trustee

Derk van Geel, the trustee of the insolvent Dutch coffee and donut chain Dunkin', sees “good chances” for a successful restart. He expects this “complex process” to take several weeks. In the meantime, the branches will remain open and donuts will continue to be made.

Earlier this week, the judge declared Dunkin' bankrupt in the Netherlands. The company employs around 400 people. Although the trustee indicates that their dismissal due to bankruptcy is inevitable, according to him, plans are being worked on hard to retain as many jobs as possible.

Van Geel has announced in a statement that he has now started a takeover process for the company. Interested parties can contact him. Ultimately, the curator will also investigate the causes of the bankruptcy.

Dunkin' Donuts, often covered in chocolate or brightly colored icing, has been a household name in the United States since the 1950s. The chain was relatively new in the Netherlands. In the 1990s, an attempt to grow the chain in the Netherlands stalled at five locations, which all closed in 2000. In 2017, a store of what was then still called Dunkin' Donuts opened in Amsterdam, after which dozens of branches followed.

Last year, the Dutch and Belgian branches came into the hands of one of the branches of the hotel group Van der Valk, with the hospitality company acquiring the right to use the Dunkin' brand from the American Inspire Brands. Van der Valk International wanted to grow the chain and hoped to attract young people to its hotels.

Initially, the chain also saw room for more than 150 branches in this country. But little seems to have come of those growth plans. The number of branches seems to have only decreased recently. In any case, Dunkin' now has a lot of competition from other chains such as Starbucks, Cinnabon or AH to go.