Dunkin' Donuts to stop selling popular iced coffee 'Coolatta' before summer
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Dunkin' Donuts is getting rid of their Coffee Coolatta drinks this summer. (iStock)
If you’re a Dunkin Donuts coffee drinker, prepare to say goodbye to one of the chain’s signature drinks.
According to Business Insider, the coffee chain will cut its popular Coffee Coolatta beverage this summer. In its place, Dunkin’ will start serving a new “Frozen Dunkin’ Coffee,” a drink made with coffee extract, sugar and milk.
The move highlights the chain's push to promote different coffee-related drinks as new brews become more and more popular. To that effect, the chain started serving cold brew coffee last summer and is currently serving nitro cold brew in five locations with plans to roll it out in more stores soon.
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"Our Coffee Coolatta isn't good enough," said Chris Fuqua, the chain’s senior vice president of brand marketing, during a media day at the brand’s headquarters on March 21.
"Coolattas are a platform we've had for years," Paul Racicot, Dunkin's director of culinary innovation, said in response to the drink being discontinued. "But, we believe it's time we... contemporize our frozen platform."
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A large Frozen Mocha Coffee Coolatta with cream has close to 1,000 calories and 133 grams of sugar. A 32-ounce version of the new drink will pack in 840 calories and 123 grams of sugar.
But many Dunkin' devotees, who don't appear to be health nuts, are already begging the chain to reconsider dropping the Coolatta.
@holymolysteph the coffee coolatta was a pivotal part of my upbringing IM UPSET
— babybird (@holydamerons) March 22, 2017
@OnlyInBOS @DunkinDonuts how could you do this to me Dunkin. This is my absolute favorite drink in the world 😔
— Lisa Direnzo (@dmbfan0923) March 22, 2017
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Still, the chain says the new beverage is geared toward regular coffee drinkers looking for a drink that’s more coffee and less dessert.
"We have to continue to innovate against coffee, because of its importance to us as a business," Anthony Bonitatibus, a brand marketing manager at Dunkin' Donuts, said about the chain’s focus. "We're always thinking about what is the next big thing in coffee, because we can't just rest on our laurels."
But not all Coolattas are created equally. The fruit-flavored varieties (including Blue Raspberry and Minute-Maid Orange), which the chain said continue to have a loyal following, will remain on the menu forseeable future.