Unless you’re like me and hail from the West Coast (aka the BEST Coast), then you’ve probably never had Dutch Bros.
If you’re one of the uninitiated, take a quick break, open a new tab, and read up on what Dutch Bros is all about.
Got it? Good. Now forget everything you just learned.
Dutch Bros isn’t just a coffee chain—it’s just…different.
Where most chains give you a coffee and send you on your way as quickly as physically possible, Dutch Bros gives you an experience.
They’ve found a way to turn the everyday coffee run into something memorable.
And no matter what you sell, there’s a lesson in there for you to learn.
This is… the story of Dutch Bros.
Slinging Joe with Dane and Travis
The year is 1992, and two brothers, Dane and Travis Boersma, are tired of working on their family’s dairy farm. I can’t blame them—props to anyone who can wake up at 2 AM daily to milk cows, but that life isn’t for me.
Eager for a new opportunity, the brothers start brainstorming businesses they can start.
One day, while reminiscing about the mochas from his 2 years of college, Travis gets an idea—what if they opened a coffee cart?
To Dane, it sounds crazy. The only espresso he ever tried was from an Italian restaurant and he knew it wasn’t for him. But Travis is persistent, and after some coaxing and convincing over vanilla lattes, Dane finally agrees to give it a shot.
They scraped together $12,000, bought a cart and an espresso machine, and set up in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon, between the railroad tracks and the post office. They named the stand “Dutch Bros” since they were from Dutch roots and, well, brothers.
Experience and Product > Just Product
While Dane and Travis were going to sell coffee, they weren’t going to keep it ordinary.
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Since this was *their* business, they decided they wanted to do it *their* way.
Every day, they’d open the cart, play their favorite music, and vibe out.
No rush, no pressure—just a good time serving coffee.
Soon enough, the community started to take notice. Customers weren’t just coming for the coffee; they were coming to hang out, chat, and grab a cup of coffee, all at the same time.
The cart wasn’t just a place to get a caffeine fix—it was a gathering spot where people felt like they belonged.
Eventually, the business got so popular that in 1994, the brothers opened a drive-thru location with the help of one of their most loyal customers.
Things were starting to get serious and the brothers realized that they were no longer just running a coffee cart—they were building a brand.
If they were going to be able to scale their operations even further, they needed to cement who they really were.
Coffee with a Side of Culture (Hold the Cream)
The brothers knew their culture was the secret sauce, so they doubled down on those good vibes with every new location.
They wanted Dutch Bros to feel like more than just a coffee shop.
Anytime you roll up to a Dutch Bros, it’s like a hangout spot—staff and customers are just vibing. Employees—or “broistas”— are encouraged to chat with customers, crank up some music, and make it a fun, welcoming place to be.
That upbeat energy and sense of belonging? It wasn’t random—it was intentional.
Culture has been a driving force of the brand, and I’d argue that those little moments where people feel happy to be spending their money with you is the best marketing a brand can have.
When customers feel like they’re part of something bigger—like they’re walking into a place where they belong—it’s the kind of thing they’ll rave about.
And that kind of organic word-of-mouth is priceless.
But how do you scale that kind of culture as you grow? The brothers had a plan: only staff who’d been with Dutch Bros for at least 2 years could become franchisees.
That way, every new location was run by someone who got it—the vibe, the values, the whole thing that made Dutch Bros special.
With this policy set in stone, the company began to grow faster than they ever imagined. Franchises emerged all across the northwest totaling 50 in 2000.
Things were looking unstoppable…until 2004.
A fire wiped out $2M worth of coffee and roasting equipment, and not long after, Dane started showing symptoms of ALS. Five years later, the disease would take his life.
It was a reckoning moment for the brand. They were losing a cofounder—a man whose energy and passion had shaped everything about Dutch Bros. But instead of falling apart, they leaned into the culture Dane had built and kept pushing forward.
Sticking to their Roots
Today, Dutch Bros is seeing its best days ever.
They went public in 2021, Travis is still CEO (maybe one of the only public company CEOs to regularly wear flip-flops), and the brand has started expanding into the East Coast via Florida.
But even though they have gone through all this change, they haven’t really… changed.
The core of what made Dutch Bros so special—its vibe, its culture, its people-first mentality—has stayed the same.
They never forgot why people went to them in the first place, and they never tried to be something they weren’t.
They’ve grown, but they’ve stayed true to their roots.
And for that, I raise my iced vanilla latte.
Keep on Broing.
