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NEW YORK — Dunkin’ Donuts is treating coffee lovers across America to a massive giveaway Tuesday, offering the first 1 million customers a free standard hot or iced coffee as part of a one-day promotion designed to celebrate loyal fans and drive foot traffic to its stores nationwide.

The promotion, announced late Monday, kicks off at participating locations on May 19, 2026. Customers do not need to make a purchase to claim the free coffee, though participating Dunkin’ shops may apply standard size limitations and basic customization rules. The offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis until the 1 million drinks are redeemed or stores close for the day.

Dunkin’ officials described the giveaway as the largest single-day coffee promotion in the brand’s history. With more than 9,500 Dunkin’ locations across the United States, the company expects strong turnout, particularly during morning rush hours. Many stores are preparing extra staff and inventory to handle anticipated demand.

“This is our way of saying thank you to the millions of guests who start their day with us,” a Dunkin’ spokesperson said. “We know how important that first cup of coffee is, and we’re excited to share it for free on May 19.”

To claim the free coffee, customers simply need to visit any participating Dunkin’ store and request the promotion. While no app or digital coupon is required, the company encourages guests to use the Dunkin’ app for faster ordering and to check real-time store availability. Mobile orders placed through the app will also be eligible for the free coffee offer, subject to the same first-come, first-served limitations.

The promotion covers standard hot or iced coffee. Specialty drinks, espresso-based beverages, or add-ons like flavored syrups and whipped cream are not included. However, customers can still purchase those items separately if desired. Dunkin’ franchisees have the flexibility to extend the offer slightly beyond the 1 million national cap at their own discretion, but the core commitment remains the first million redemptions.

Industry analysts view the giveaway as a smart marketing move in a highly competitive quick-service beverage market. With major rivals like Starbucks and Dutch Bros also running frequent promotions, Dunkin’ is leaning into its core strength — accessible, high-quality coffee at everyday prices — to reinforce brand loyalty.

Social media reaction has been swift and enthusiastic. The hashtag #DunkinFreeCoffee began trending within hours of the announcement, with users sharing excitement, planned store visits, and tips for beating the morning rush. Some coffee enthusiasts are already planning to visit multiple locations throughout the day to maximize their chances before supplies run out.

Dunkin’ has a long history of successful promotional campaigns. Previous giveaways, such as National Donut Day offers and app-based rewards, have consistently driven significant traffic. This large-scale free coffee event is expected to be one of the most impactful, potentially introducing new customers to the brand while rewarding longtime fans.

For store operators, the promotion represents both an opportunity and a logistical challenge. Many franchisees are increasing morning staffing and pre-brewing extra batches of coffee to avoid long lines and disappointed customers. Corporate support teams are providing additional supplies and marketing materials to ensure smooth execution.

The timing of the giveaway is particularly strategic. May marks the unofficial start of summer in many regions, a period when iced coffee demand traditionally surges. By offering free coffee on May 19, Dunkin’ aims to kick off the warmer months with strong momentum and increased brand visibility.

Customers with dietary preferences should note that the free offer includes both regular and decaf options. Plant-based milk alternatives may be available for an additional charge, consistent with standard Dunkin’ pricing. The promotion is valid at participating U.S. locations only and does not extend to international markets.

Dunkin’ has prepared for potential high demand by coordinating with suppliers and distribution centers in advance. The company has also set up a dedicated customer service line for questions related to the giveaway. Guests experiencing any issues at specific locations are encouraged to use the Dunkin’ app’s feedback feature or contact corporate support.

Beyond the immediate caffeine boost, the promotion carries longer-term benefits for Dunkin’. Marketing experts predict it will generate substantial earned media coverage and social sharing, amplifying the brand’s reach far beyond the 1 million physical redemptions. User-generated content featuring free coffee cups and happy customers is expected to flood platforms like Instagram, TikTok and X.

For budget-conscious consumers, the event offers a welcome opportunity to enjoy a premium coffee experience at no cost. With inflation still affecting everyday expenses, free promotions like this resonate strongly with working professionals, students and families looking to stretch their dollars.

As stores prepare for Tuesday’s rush, Dunkin’ enthusiasts are setting alarms and mapping out their routes. Some loyal customers have already planned group visits, turning the promotion into a social event. Others are coordinating workplace runs to bring free coffee back to colleagues.

The 1 million free coffee giveaway underscores Dunkin’s continued dominance in the everyday coffee segment. While competitors focus on premium experiences and elaborate seasonal drinks, Dunkin’ doubles down on accessibility, speed and value — qualities that built its massive national footprint.

Whether you prefer a classic hot coffee with cream and sugar or a refreshing iced version on a warm spring day, Tuesday offers a rare chance to enjoy it complimentary. With careful planning and a bit of luck, coffee lovers nationwide can start their day with a free Dunkin’ pick-me-up.

The promotion runs only on May 19 while supplies last. Early birds will have the best chance of claiming their free coffee before the daily allocation runs out at individual locations. Dunkin’ encourages all participants to enjoy responsibly and share their experiences using the official brand hashtags.

This large-scale act of generosity is expected to strengthen customer loyalty and generate positive brand sentiment heading into the busy summer season. For millions of Americans, it will simply be a delicious way to start the day — on the house.

Younger workers bore the brunt of a cooling labour market

Unemployment edged back upwards despite a decline in last month’s figures, as data revealed the UK jobs market deteriorated over the last quarter. The Office for National Statistics reported the UK unemployment rate stood at five per cent in the three months to March 2026. This marked a rise from the 4.9 per cent recorded in the previous month’s release.

Youth unemployment also climbed to 16.2 per cent, with activity rates for the age group falling simultaneously.

WPI Strategy economist Martin Beck highlighted that the drop in payrolled employees among those under 35 was more pronounced, falling by 296,000 since October 2024, compared to a rise of 18,000 for older workers.

“In other words, the slowdown is not being felt evenly. Younger workers continue to bear the brunt of a cooling labour market,” Beck said, as reported by City AM.

Vacancies declined further to a five-year low, laying bare the challenges facing job seekers in an increasingly subdued market.

The number of payrolled employees fell by 20,000 over the quarter, while an early estimate for the three months to April suggests a potential drop of 100,000 over the same period.

Bank of England officials are likely to take close note of fresh wage growth figures that may unsettle some policymakers.

Including bonuses, wage growth came in higher than anticipated at 4.1 per cent. Pay growth over the three months to March was 3.4 per cent when bonuses were excluded from the calculation, in line with economists’ forecasts.

“Latest figures suggest the labour market remains soft, with vacancies at their lowest level in five years and unemployment higher than a year ago,” said Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics.

The latest employment data provides additional insight into the condition of the British economy following the first quarter of the calendar year.

Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Indeed, described youth unemployment as a “flashing warning signal”.

“Vacancies are falling, payrolled employment is declining, and the jobless rate is rising – a combination that signals the squeeze on businesses from rising costs and uncertainty is now feeding through into tangible job market deterioration,” Kennedy said.

“The spike in joblessness among young people is a reminder that the workers at the beginning of their careers feel these pressures first and hardest.”

Separate GDP figures offered Rachel Reeves encouragement as the ONS estimated that the economy expanded by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year.

Projections for the employment market have been varied, with economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England forecasting a peak unemployment rate of approximately 5.3 per cent.

Some City analysts have cautioned that joblessness could climb higher.

Welfare secretary Pat McFadden said a rise in the employment rate was “encouraging” yet the war in the Middle East was “casting a shadow on the labour market”. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith attributed the deterioration to the Labour government’s policies.

Monetary Policy Committee members, who determine interest rates every six weeks, will be scrutinising any signs of wage pressures closely.

This heightened focus on salaries comes as economists fear that rising inflation driven by the Iran war could push up wages, triggering a spiralling effect on price pressures.

The International Monetary Fund indicated that the Bank would not need to raise interest rates this year, despite a number of City firms predicting a hike.

The IMF cautioned that interest rates were heavily contingent on whether data remained in line with expectations.

Economists at both the Bank and across private sector firms will now be keeping a close eye on anticipated government welfare reforms.

The initial findings from the Alan Milburn review into young people not in education, employment or training (Neets) are expected to be released within days, outlining potential job market reforms to be put forward by any Labour leader.

Ahead of Tuesday’s jobs figures, a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed that only half of young people were on the payroll, as the Neets crisis has proven worse than anticipated.

According to the think tank, just 50.6 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds were in employment between late 2022 and 2025. This represented a decline from a previous proportion of 54.9 per cent.

Two thirds of the population were participating in the labour force, while nearly one in nine young people, or 640,000 individuals, were claiming an out-of-work benefit, the research revealed.

Jed Michael, research economist at IFS and an author of a report on Neets, said there was insufficient evidence to explain why the Neets crisis had worsened beyond previous projections.

“The job of the Milburn review is made much harder by a lack of clarity as to what is driving the fall. While it does not seem to be down solely to a temporary cyclical downturn in the economy, more evidence is needed to understand the roles of minimum wages, youth mental health, AI and other factors,” Michael said.

The airport is costing taxpayers around £2.7m a year and work is underway to reduce its operating costs

Putting Gloucestershire Airport back up for sale is among the options being weighed up by council leaders in Cheltenham and Gloucester. The planned disposal of the 375-acre Staverton airport, which is jointly owned by Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, collapsed earlier this year following months of negotiations.

The site had been attracting offers in excess of its £25m asking price. However, the deal unravelled after preferred bidder Horizon Aero Group failed to secure the necessary financing when a financial partner pulled out.

The airport is currently costing taxpayers approximately £2.7m every year, and efforts are under way to reduce its running costs. Cheltenham Borough Council leader Rowena Hay regards the airport as one of the most pressing challenges facing her authority, and relaunching the sale process remains her preferred course of action.

“I’m still very firmly of the view that we need to sell,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. She confirmed that active work is continuing and that they “are going to continue with selling it”.

Gloucester City Council leader Jeremy Hilton stopped short of ruling out a future sale but confirmed that no firm decision has yet been reached between the two shareholders.

“We are discussing options at the moment,” he said. “We will get round to that but we haven’t actually firmed any decision yet between the two shareholders.

“That’s my position at the moment until we make a decision, that’s it. I’m assessing the various details. I’m not ruling anything out at the moment. I have my personal preferences, but I’m not going to declare those at the moment.

“But, we’ve been making [progress]. We’ve appointed a new interim managing director, which I think is a positive move as well. We’re looking at various business options to reduce the operating deficit.”

Originally known as Staverton Airport when it was built in 1936, the site replaced its forerunner at Down Hatherley Airfield. The two councils established Gloucestershire Airport Limited in 1993 to oversee operations at what has since become the UK’s busiest general aviation airport.

It topped the Civil Aviation Authority’s rankings for aircraft movements in 2023. The airport has its own fire station and two business parks covering a combined 700,000 square feet.

Several prominent aviation firms, including Safran Group, Babcock and Weston Aviation, are headquartered at the site.

A burst of buying in small and midcap counters sent several stocks soaring up to 7% on Tuesday, pulling broader markets higher and outperforming benchmark indices.

The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gained over 1.4% each, while the largecap Nifty 50 index was up 0.5%, as seen at 11 am on Tuesday.

Top midcap gainers today

Coforge shares were the top gainers on the Nifty Midcap 100 index, jumping around 6% with IT peers Mphasis, OFSS and Persistent Systems following with a 5% rise in share price. The IT stocks are leading gains on Dalal Street as persistent rupee depreciation and cheaper valuations after the recent AI-led crash boosted investor sentiment.

“As per market consensus, Coforge is trading at a 1-year forward P/E of 23x (3-year average P/E of 34x), offering an attractive valuation. Coupled with a strong executable order book, diversified vertical growth, and enhanced AI-led capabilities, the company is well-positioned to deliver sustained double-digit growth and margin expansion in FY27,” said Geojit Investments while maintaining a ‘Buy’ call on the stock, with a target price of Rs 1,670 apiece.

Radico Khaitan, Policybazaar and Voltas shares followed, rising nearly 4% each. Vodafone Idea shares also gained around 4% to hit a fresh 52-week high, although several brokerages remain cautious after the 95% rally in one year.

KPIT Tech, Adani Total Gas, BSE, Patanjali Foods, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Jubilant Foodworks and Prestige Estates, meanwhile, gained more than 3% each, buoyed by varied tailwinds.

Top smallcap gainers today

Ola Electric Mobility shares were the top gainers on the Nifty Smallcap 100 index, rallying nearly 7%. Shares of the EVscooter-maker have gained around 6% in one week, but declined over 9% in one month. The stock is down 29% over one year.
FirstCry-parent Brainbees Solutions, Angel One and Tata Tech jumped over 5%, while Gland Pharma, IDBI Bank and Firstsource Solutions gained nearly 5%. Deepak Fertilisers, Himadri Speciality Chemical (HSCL) and The Great Eastern Shipping Company also rose close to 4%.

What lies ahead?

Broadly, at the macro level, the concerns surrounding growth, inflation and currency depreciation persist, warned VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. “Therefore, investors should focus on sectors which will be least impacted by these potential headwinds. Pharmaceuticals, power-related stocks and defence stocks will be the least affected by a potential slowdown,” he said.
Also read: Why 10 stocks suffered massive Rs 17,000 crore mutual fund selloff in April

The analyst highlighted that the Q4 results have been more or less good and better than expected in some cases. “This is an indication that the economy had started to recover in response to the fiscal and monetary stimulus measures of last year, before being impacted by the energy crisis. Therefore, if there is a quick resolution of the Hormuz crisis, the economy may recover fast, and the slowdown expected this year will not be as severe as feared,” he further said.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Shares of Jain Resource Recycling, backed by ace investor Ashish Kacholia, came under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday, plunging as much as 19% to an intraday low of Rs 377 on the BSE. The stock has now fallen 34% over the last two sessions. As per the March quarter shareholding pattern, Kacholia held 1.14% stake in the company through Bengal Finance and Investment.

The sharp decline followed the company’s disclosure that geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel severely disrupted its import supply chain during the March quarter, particularly in March 2026. According to the company, the conflict led to vessel rerouting and a sharp rise in port discharge liner charges imposed by shipping companies, costs that could neither be passed on to suppliers nor immediately recovered from customers.

The company said that the conflict triggered a spike in global oil and gas prices, which pushed up fuel procurement costs from domestic vendors and increased per metric tonne production costs. These exceptional and one-time cost pressures significantly impacted Q4 EBITDA per MT and compressed margins during the quarter.

Adding to the pressure, Jain Resource Recycling said its sale realisation as a percentage of LME declined by 1.25% to 1.50% in Q4. The company described this as a broader global sector trend, noting that sharp increases in LME copper prices often lead buyers worldwide to resist higher absolute pricing levels, resulting in lower formula-linked realisations for sellers across the value chain.

Despite the near-term challenges, the company said operating conditions have started improving in Q1FY27.

“We are pleased to inform that the situation has meaningfully improved entering Q1 FY27. Shipping lines have proactively rerouted vessels through alternative sea routes away from conflict-impacted corridors, and liner surcharges and port discharge costs have normalised substantially. This was a one-off March 2026 impact and will not recur in the coming quarters,” the company said in its investor presentation.
For Q4FY26, Jain Resource Recycling reported a net profit of Rs 66 crore, up 25.7% from Rs 52.5 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations surged 76.4% year-on-year to Rs 3,105 crore from Rs 1,760 crore a year earlier. EBITDA rose 18% during the quarter to Rs 110 crore.The company also disclosed that the loss before tax from discontinued operations was linked to its investment in a UAE-based gold refining venture.

Jain Resource Recycling had partnered with Ikon Square Limited by acquiring a 70% stake in Jain Ikon Global Ventures (FZC), a free zone entity registered in Sharjah, UAE, which later became its subsidiary. The acquisition was undertaken to set up a gold refining facility in Sharjah, which commenced refining gold and its by-product silver in August 2024.

However, the Board of Directors, at its meeting held on August 24, 2025, approved the discontinuation of operations with effect from April 17, 2025, citing low margins, elevated operational overheads, working capital constraints and continued volatility in the gold refining business.
On the operational front, the company said execution across its expansion pipeline remains broadly on track.

“On the project execution front, we continue to make steady progress across our expansion pipeline, with overall implementation remaining broadly in line with the guidance shared earlier,” the management said.

The company added that it successfully commissioned the first furnace under its Copper Anode Expansion project during the quarter, adding a capacity of 800 MT per month. The second furnace, which will add another 800 MT per month capacity, is at an advanced stage of installation and is expected to be commissioned during the June quarter, in line with earlier guidance.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)