We Can't Believe How Much Dunkin' Prices Have Increased In The Past Few Years

The rising cost of food has been tough to deal with everywhere, and it's particularly hard to accept how much Dunkin's prices have increased. It's not that the coffee chain should be exempt from the forces that have driven up fast food prices over the last five years, but Dunkin' has always been a value refuge from Starbucks and other competitors that like to pass themselves off as a little bit fancier. The coffee chain of the working American. But like so many places that used to be seen as a good value, the cost of eating at Dunkin' can shock people nowadays, with customers reporting 30% or more increases to their standard orders.

Compared to some chains like McDonald's, the nationwide statistics on Dunkin' prices are hard to come by, and the chain can also have widely varying prices store-to-store because of its 100% franchise model that lets local owners set their prices. But Dunkin' fans have taken it on themselves to post proof of the massive price increases at their local stores. One on TikTok shows his order of a breakfast sandwich, medium iced coffee, and a sprinkle donut jumping 33% in only four years. Another on Reddit for a latte, hashbrown, and a few Munchkins shows an even bigger 37% increase over three years from 2022 to 2025. And those price increases don't even account for shrinkflation, with some Dunkin' stores reportedly doing things like using more ice in iced coffees to cut down on costs.

The tough thing is that those Dunkin' price increases aren't unusual. Average menu prices at all restaurants in the United States increased a little more than 30% from 2020 to 2025, driven by surging costs of labor and ingredients. And Dunkin' is competing in an industry, coffee, that has seen a particularly bad increase in costs recently.

You've probably noticed that not only prices at Dunkin' or Starbucks, but bags of coffee in your local grocery stores have been skyrocketing, too. That's because drought and climate change have devastated coffee harvests in some of the largest producing regions in the world over the past few years. Brazil and Vietnam dominate coffee exports, with Brazil alone accounting for 40% of the world's production, and dry seasons have hit both countries. That big drop in supply has sent wholesale prices of coffee soaring. Compared to just before the pandemic, the cost of roasted coffee has increased by almost 80%. And while tariff threats against both countries from President Trump have mostly been withdrawn recently, the added uncertainty they bring hasn't helped either.

Of course, non-coffee items like Dunkin's breakfast sandwiches have also increased in price, but it just shows there are a lot of factors working against affordability for consumers these days. As much as we all may pine for a return to the prices of the 2010s, it looks like these shocking order totals are here to stay.