Dunkin' Donuts announces the signing of multi-unit store development agreements with two franchise groups for a total commitment of 26 new restaurants in Fresno and San Francisco over the next several years.

Additional California Dunkin' Donuts locations are planned to open in Los Angeles and Sacramento areas before the end of 2015.

The opening of these restaurants is part of a larger plan to open approximately 275 new restaurants in California over the next several years. The company plans to open more than 1,000 restaurants in total throughout the state over the long-term. Franchise opportunities still remain available in portions of California, including in the Los Angeles county desert communities, Santa Barbara and Chico-Redding.

The two franchise groups and their development plans include:

Existing franchisee Aharon Aminpour plans to develop 17 restaurants in Fresno and the surrounding cities including Clovis, Visalia and Tulare. Aminpour currently owns and operates one Dunkin' Donuts restaurant in Encino, and last November signed a development agreement for 10 new restaurants throughout the San Fernando Valley. His next restaurant under this new agreement is planned to open in 2017.

New franchise group Shiva Developments, led by existing Dunkin' Donuts franchisee Nick Bhatt alongside his new franchise partners, sister and brother-in-law, Disha and Yogesh Tivedi, plan to develop nine new restaurants in San Francisco and the surrounding cities. Nick Bhatt currently owns one Dunkin' Donuts restaurant in Springfield, IL. The group's first restaurant in California is planned to open in 2017.

"With the addition of these enthusiastic and dedicated franchisees, we're proud to announce 26 new restaurants in the Golden state, which brings our current development commitments to more than 275 total restaurants in California," said Grant Benson, CFE, vice president of global franchising and business development, Dunkin' Brands. "We are thrilled these existing franchisees have chosen to expand their presence in the California market, and know these new restaurants will satisfy a growing consumer demand for Dunkin' Donuts in the Fresno and San Francisco communities they will serve."

Since September 2014, Dunkin' Donuts has opened ten restaurants in California and currently operates locations in the cities of Downey, Encino, Laguna Hills, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, Upland and Whittier.