Dairy Queen, často zkracováno na DQ, je mezinárodní řetězec prodávající zmrzlinu (typ „soft serve“) a rychlé občerstvení. Název řetězce je odvozen právě od jejich zmrzlinového produktu. The first Dairy Queen store opened in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois. The company headquarters are located in Edina, Minnesota.
V roce 2010 bylo v 19 zemích světa celkem přes 5700 provozoven Dairy Queen, z toho 652 mimo území USA a Kanady. With Dairy Queen being one of the largest soft serve franchises in the world, their main competition includes: Baskin-Robbins, Braum's, Carvel, Culver's, Foster's Freeze, Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard, McDonald's, Sonic Drive-In, Tastee Freez, and TCBY. The Busiest Dairy Queen is found in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
The company's products expanded to include malts and milkshakes in 1949, banana splits in 1951, Dilly Bars in 1955 (they had lime), Mr. Misty slush treats in 1961 (later renamed Misty Slush, then again to Arctic Rush), and a range of hamburgers and other cooked foods under the Brazier banner in 1958. Then in 1967 the ever popular, Peanut Buster Parfait, made of peanuts, hot fudge, and vanilla soft serve. Other popular items include sundaes and the blended coffee drink, the MooLatte, controversial because of its resemblance to the racial descriptor Mulatto.
Dairy Queen's one hundred (as of 1997) Japanese stores offered hamburgers, but competition from McDonald's made the chain switch to pita sandwiches.
The majority of Dairy Queen locations serve Coca-Cola products, but unlike most other restaurants such contracts are not mandated onto the franchisee, and as a result some locations serve Pepsi products instead. Subway (until 2003) and Arby's (until 2006) also allowed such leniency on beverage choice before signing exclusive soft drink deals with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, respectively, making Dairy Queen the last major restaurant chain without an exclusive soft drink contract.
That said, the fact that some Dairy Queens serve Pepsi products is in conflict with its parent company's large interest in The Coca-Cola Company. Berkshire Hathaway is one of Coca-Cola's largest single shareholders, with 8.6%.
Stravování
- Cottage Cheese
- Dairy Queen
- Dunkin' Donuts
