The Failed 1970s Dunkin' Menu Item That We Will Never See Again

America runs on Dunkin', but that usually refers to coffee, bagels, and other morning pick-me-ups. The nationwide chain offers its fair share of sweets, with sugary breakfast pastries teetering on the edge of dessert, but Dunkin's on-the-go brand attracts more morning birds than it does night owls. During the 1970s, pre-Munchkins, and well before the company dropped "Donuts" from its name, Dunkin' hired a consultant with some not-so-genius ideas. Aside from recommending machine-made donuts rather than crafted by hand, the consulting firm made the wild suggestion of adding pie to Dunkin Donuts' breakfast-esque menu.

Looking back, serving pies certainly wasn't the wildest idea Dunkin' ever had, unlike its Frankford Candy chocolate collab or Cosmic Coolattas. Freshly baked donuts and piping hot pies aren't too different after all, but a slice of pie isn't much of a grab-and-go type of treat. Despite the upswing trend of fast-food pies, folks weren't too eager to grab a slice alongside their morning coffee.

McDonald's released its beloved apple pie in 1968, but surprisingly, that wasn't Dunkin's inspiration. At the time, Marie Callender's take-home pies were a big hit in California, and Dunkin' figured it would jump in on the chain's success. Unfortunately, it did not fare well. The Dunkin' pie was a short-lived disaster. Robert M. Rosenberg, the company's firmer CEO, reflected on the pie's failure in his memoir, "Around the Corner to Around the World," blaming himself but mostly the consulting firm he hired from Massachusetts, Arthur D. Little. It didn't help that Dunkin' Donuts didn't even bake the pies in-house but had them delivered frozen. Plenty of brands make top-of-the-line pies that can be found in the frozen aisle, but judging from this flop, Dunkin' Donuts wasn't one of them.

The pie fiasco coupled with some other questionable business decisions resulted in a not-so-favorable year for for the company, which reported losses of $1.7 million in 1973. The fast-food pie trend eventually dwindled, and Dunkin' couldn't even get a sliver of success with its frozen pies. The chain tried again for the so-called National Apple Pie Day in 2011, but alas, it was another bust for Dunkin' when it gave the menu item a second chance.