Dunkin' Donuts Vs. Starbucks

Lisa DiCarlo
Forbes

Remember when coffee was simple? As recently as 15 years ago there were only a handful of options for the world's most popular beverage. Today there are many dozens of ways to drink your cup of Joe, and the stakes in this multibillion dollar business have skyrocketed.

The two biggest players are Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) and Dunkin' Donuts, owned by U.K.-based Allied Domecq PLC (nyse: AED - news - people ). Between them, they have more than 13,000 locations worldwide.

Dunkin' Donuts was founded 21 years before Starbucks and remained largely unchanged--save for adding foods like bagels and egg sandwiches--until Starbucks' torrid growth forced Dunkin' Donuts to introduce products at a faster pace.

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