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Dutch Bros continues unit growth, tests food salesDutch Bros continues unit growth, tests food sales

Beverage restaurant concept adds 38 new shops in Q3, bringing total to 950 locations in 18 states

Ron Ruggless, Senior Editor

November 7, 2024

3 Min Read
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CEO Christine Barone said Dutch Bros sees an opportunity in food sales as well as beverage.Courtesy of Dutch Bros

Dutch Bros Inc., the quick-service beverage concept, continued its fast-paced growth in the Sept. 30-ended third quarter, adding 38 new shops and continuing the rollout of mobile ordering, executives said.

Executives at the Grants Pass, Ore-based Dutch Bros said they were also testing food, which was increasing transaction amounts and could be rolled out in 2026.

Of the 38 new shops, 33 were company-operated. The company now has 950 locations in 18 states.

Christine Barone, Dutch Bros president and CEO, said growth has attracted employee candidates as well. “Our best people are staying and growing with us,” she said. “Year-to-date, we have received over 400,000 applications to work at Dutch Bros for about 11,000 open field positions.”

At the end of the third quarter, Barone noted that 858 shops had mobile order functionality enabled, representing 90% of the system and 96% company-operated shop coverage.

“Our customers are enthusiastic about mobile order,” she said. “As of Oct. 31, our customers have placed approximately 2.8 million mobile order transactions. Our customers love the functionality and service. We are achieving high customer satisfaction, with more than nine out of 10 mobile order customers likely to use the channel again and recommended to their friends and family.”

Related:How Dutch Bros’ operations support the company’s ‘magic’

Barone said Dutch Bros sees an opportunity in food sales as well as beverage. Currently, food makes up less than 2% of Dutch Bros sales.

“We will be very diligent and measured as we determine the timing and role of an expanded food program and how we best support our ‘broistas’ so that we can execute with speed, quality, and service,” Barone said.

She added that food is likely an opportunity for 2026 and beyond.

“It is super important to us that we get this exactly right for our teams, for our shops, for our customers,” she said. “And we expect to expand the test as we go into 2025.”

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Dutch Bros’ net income was $12.6 million, or 11 cents a share, up from $4.2 million, or 7 cents a share, in the prior-year period. Revenues were $338.2 million, up from $264.5 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Same-store sales were up 2.7% and transactions were up 0.8% in the third quarter.

“For the year, we have opened 119 new shops, of which 103 are company operated,” Barone said. “We are executing our real estate strategy and are very energized by the results.

“We expect shop openings to accelerate in 2025 to at least 160 shops and further accelerate in 2026,” she said, adding that the company has growing data from its new units and using that to model what it looks for going forward.

“We are building a new process out and so we brought on a market planning team and ingesting more data into our models to get just tighter around AUVs and what we expect our new shop openings to look like,” Barone said.

As of Sept. 30, Dutch Bros, founded in 1992 by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma, had 950 locations in 18 states.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]

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About the Author

Ron Ruggless

Senior Editor, Nation’s Restaurant News / Restaurant Hospitality

Ron Ruggless serves as a senior editor for Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN.com) and Restaurant Hospitality (Restaurant-Hospitality.com) online and print platforms. He joined NRN in 1992 after working 10 years in various roles at the Dallas Times Herald newspaper, including restaurant critic, assistant business editor, food editor and lifestyle editor. He also edited several printings of the Zagat Dining Guide for Dallas-Fort Worth, and his articles and photographs have appeared in Food & Wine, Food Network and Self magazines. 

Ron Ruggless’ areas of expertise include foodservice mergers, acquisitions, operations, supply chain, research and development and marketing. 

Ron Ruggless is a frequent moderator and panelist at industry events ranging from the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference to RestaurantSpaces, the Council of Hospitality and Restaurant Trainers, the National Restaurant Association’s Marketing Executives Group, local restaurant associations and the Horeca Professional Expo in Madrid, Spain.

Ron Ruggless’ experience:

Regional and Senior Editor, Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality (1992 to present)

Features Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1989-1991)

Restaurant Critic and Food Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1987-1988)

Editing Roles – Dallas Times Herald (1982-1987)

Editing Roles – Charlotte (N.C.) Observer (1980-1982)

Editing Roles – Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald (1978-1980)

Email: [email protected]

Social media:

Twitter@RonRuggless

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ronruggless

Instagram: @RonRuggless

TikTok: @RonRuggless

 

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