Dutch Bros. Coffee

Dutch Bros was founded on February 12, 1992, by Dane and Travis Boersma, brothers of Dutch descent, in Grants Pass, Oregon.[1][7][8] Their family's third-generation dairy farm had been struggling due to changes in environmental regulations, and the brothers were looking to start a new business.[9][10] Travis Boersma suggested a coffee cart where they could sell espresso.[10][8] Dane Boersma was able to help finance the idea with money he had set aside while running a Dairy Queen franchise.[10] They spent an initial $12,000 on an espresso machine and a single pushcart, which they set up in downtown Grants Pass.[8][11] The name Dutch Bros was chosen in honor of their immigrant grandparents.[8]

They soon added four more carts, and by 1994 had established their first drive-through location.[12][13] In 1996, the company began roasting its own coffee, sourcing beans from El Salvador, Colombia, and Brazil.[14][8]

Dutch Bros Coffee in Bakersfield, California

In 1994, Dane and Travis Boersma struck a deal with a customer, Marty McKenna, which allowed him to open his own Dutch Bros in Medford, about 30 miles away from Grants Pass.[8][15] McKenna's first stand performed so well that he soon opened up a second one across town.[15] In 1997, the Boersmas brought McKenna on as partner, hoping he would continue to expand the Medford operations.[8][15] Two years later, they bought out McKenna's stake in the company.[8]

In 1999, Dutch Bros started formally franchising.[16] The company opened its 50th franchised drive-thru location in 2004.[8] That same year, shortly after moving into a new headquarters in Grants Pass, a nearby dumpster fire spread to the building, destroying Dutch Bros roasting equipment, five vehicles, and thousands of pounds of coffee beans.[17][8] Following this incident, the company continued to expand, and by the end of 2004, operated 61 coffee shops spanning from Northern California to Oregon's Willamette Valley.[18]

By 2009, Dutch Bros was running approximately 135 coffee stands in seven states and generating $50 million in gross annual revenue.[16] Dane Boersma died in 2009 from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.[19] In 2013, Travis Boersma was featured on the American version of the television show Undercover Boss.[20][21] Revenues continued to grow into the mid-2010s. The company earned $238 million in systemwide sales in 2015, $350 million in 2016, and $415.3 million in 2017, by which point there were over 283 Dutch Bros locations.[8][22][23]

In January 2017, Dutch Bros purchased a vacant shopping center in downtown Grants Pass where their original push cart was located.[11][22] The company converted 20,000 square feet of the shopping center's interior into futsal courts for local youth soccer teams and workout space for its employees.[24][22] In March of that same year, the company bought the Washington Federal bank building across the street from the shopping center, with the intention to move its headquarters and 150 employees into the bank building the following fall.[25][22]

In October 2018, Dutch Bros received an undisclosed amount from private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners for a minority stake in the company and announced plans to expand to 800 stores over the next five years.[23][7]

Dutch Bros reported revenues of $238 million in 2019, $327.4 million in 2020, and $228 million over the first six months of 2021, heading into the company formally filing for its IPO in August 2021.[26][7] The company stated in its filing that it hoped to raise $100 million, which it would use toward paying down $192 million in long-term debt.[7] Dutch Bros held its IPO and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "BROS" on September 15, 2021.[27] The IPO raised $484 million, selling about 21 million shares for $23 each.[27][13] Travis Boersma retained about 74 percent of shareholder voting power after the listing, due to his ownership of Class B stock.[27]