Pumpkin spice and everything nice

Jana Christiano, Staff Writer

Pumpkin spice is back and many establishments, such as Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and McDonald’s are going head-to-head to sell the most beverages.

As the cold months of fall approach, these companies are trying to increase their revenue with desired fall flavors.

The competition intensified at the very end of summer, when Dunkin Donuts released its new pumpkin spice flavors, followed by McDonald’s and then Starbucks, the original creator of the pumpkin spice latte.

Along with pumpkin spice coffee and lattes, Dunkin Donuts is improving its sales by adding pumpkin spice-flavored muffins, donuts and cream cheese.

Sarah Whiten of CNBC stated, “The company has reported better-than-expected earnings for seven-straight quarters, and new and limited time products have given it a boost.”

While the stakes remain high for the rivals, Starbucks continues to sell many beverages, as much as 200 million.

“On the other hand, some Starbucks stores ruined their customers’ coffee buzz by simultaneously hitting them with a price line,” reported Brad Tuttle of Time-Inc.com. Although Starbucks is the main generator of these beverages, their high prices negatively affected their business.

On the rise, the McCafe at McDonald’s is coming out with a so-called “special syrup” that simply can’t be beat. “A Twitter account run by a McDonald’s employee, dubbed McD Truth, posted the arrival of a long awaited ingredient on August 15: the pumpkin spice syrup,” said Linnea Zielinski of Metro magazine.

While many establishments are selling their pumpkin spice coffees in stores, many are competing with homemade coffee. The craze began when Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts announced their  pumpkin spice K cups for the Keurig coffee machine. McDonald’s simultaneously came out with a pumpkin spice syrup that was available in grocery stores such as Shoprite and Stop and Shop.

Many students at Becton Regional High School have begun to prefer Dunkin Donuts coffee over Starbucks or McDonald’s. Becton Senior Luke Maffia said, “Dunkin Donuts coffee is much cheaper than Starbucks, no teenager wants to spend five dollars on a cup of coffee.”

“Dunkin Donuts has a better selection of coffee drinks than Starbucks, but Starbucks does have better non-coffee drinks. I would rather stick to food from McDonald’s,” Senior Jessica Coleman stated.