Dunkin' Donut's global expansion includes Mexico

Dunkin’ Donuts eventually wants 17,000 chains in the U.S., and 30,000 outlets around the world. (AP)

Dunkin’ Donuts wants the world to run on Dunkin’.

It’s not just a marketing slogan for the Canton, Mass., company.  The donut chain is making major efforts to expand nationally and internationally in 2015, and this week announced that is returning to Mexico after a five-year absence.

On Monday, the chain said it signed a franchise agreement with the Mexican unit of Sizzling Platter LLC, a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee in the U.S., to open more than 100 restaurants in central and western Mexico over the next few years.

“There's a significant demand for what Dunkin' Donuts offers, high-quality food and beverages served fast and at a great value, in Mexico," Paul Twohig, President, Dunkin' Donuts U.S. and Canada, and Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Europe and Latin America said in a release.

But Dunkin’ isn’t just setting its sights on Mexico.  Its expansion includes other markets, including in Asia and Europe.

Right now there are more than 11,000 Dunkin’ Donuts shops in 33 countries, including nearly 8,000 restaurants in North America, Aruba, the Bahamas, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and the U.S.

Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts parent company Dunkin’ Brands, has said he eventually wants 17,000 in the U.S., and 30,000 outlets around the world.

In addition to new outlets, the expansion includes a  rebranding of the whole Dunkin’ Donuts concept, in some cases according to the locale.

In Germany, doughnut varieties include plum and kirsch-banane, a cherry-and-banana concoction inspired by a traditional cherry-brandy cocktail of the same name. U.K. stores sell a Nutella-filled doughnut. In Sweden, some of the pastries carry the country’s flag.

In South Korea and the Philippines, Dunkin Donuts is a place to get exotic Western treats like the “Donut Croissant” –a spin off of New York City pastry chef Dominique Ansel’s famous Cronut.

Or, as the Wall Street Journal reported in November, in India veggie burgers and chicken patties are on the menu because people “just don’t like doughnuts.”

Dunkin' Donuts's global expansion aims to beat out other  fast food chains, such as Starbucks and Taco Bell, the latter of which has been going after the breakfast crowd.