South African Burger King Owner Dumps Dunkin' Donuts Chain

(Bloomberg) -- South African fans of U.S.-branded hot, glazed doughnuts with a gulp of coffee are about to see one well-known choice disappear.

The company that owns Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.’s local Dunkin’ Donuts chain has applied for voluntary liquidation of the unit. South African leisure company Grand Parade Investments Ltd., which ran the stores as a franchisee since late 2016, is also closing down its Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores, another Dunkin’ chain.

The opening of Dunkin’ Donuts in South Africa followed other U.S. chains such as Yum! Brands Inc.’s Pizza Hut and Starbucks Corp. seeking to tap consumer demand for popular U.S. fast food. Grand Parade said in 2016 that it wanted to have 290 Dunkin’ stores in South Africa in 10 years, and purchased the rights to expand the brand into six more countries in the region. It now has 11 stores, all in the Cape Town area, according to its website, and five Baskin-Robbins locations.

Grand Parade made the decision after making a push to focus on its Burger King restaurants and an unsuccessful effort to sell the two unprofitable brands, the Cape Town-based company said Friday in a statement. About 100 staff will be affected, but Grand Parade will look to accommodate them in its other businesses, according to an emailed response to questions.

Grand Parade rose as much as 4.9 percent in Johannesburg.

For consumers who still want a morning dose of American coffee and donuts, there’s still Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., with 16 local stores spread across the Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban areas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janice Kew in Johannesburg at jkew4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Lauerman, John Viljoen

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