User:Hillaryjbrown/Dutch Bros Business model

Business model
Dutch Bros operates as a chain. The vast majority of its stores are drive-thru stands. Each store sells hot and cold drinks, including non-coffee options, and a selection of baked goods.

The company started franchising in 1999. In 2008, Dutch Bros transitioned to an internal franchising model that required potential franchisees to have worked for the company for a minimum of three years. This resulted in a 97 percent continuity rate among franchises; between 2010 and 2015, only three percent of all Dutch Bros franchise locations closed. In 2017, Dutch Bros stopped franchising and started opening only company-owned stores. As of June 2021, 264 Dutch Bros stores were being run by franchisees and another 207 were fully company-owned.

Dutch Bros places an emphasis on its employees, who are known as "Broistas", having a positive and customer-first approach. The company has held an annual team-building event called COACHA, where employees from the chain's locations meet to get to know each other, share priorities, and hear from the company's leaders. When a Dutch Bros location initially opens, a team of trainers is dispatched to the new store, where they train employees for at least four weeks. Upon being hired, new employees shadow experienced ones for 12 days. The company has a history of buying out franchisees who fall short of the company's customer service standards.

Operations
Dutch Bros is headquartered in Grants Pass, Oregon. It is majority-owned by Travis Boersma, who holds the title of executive chairman, and led by President and CEO Joth Ricci. The company operates approximately 500 stores across 12 states and employs about 16,500 people. In September 2021, Dutch Bros became a publicly traded company, selling 21 million shares for a total of $484 million.

Charitable efforts
Dutch Bros co-founder Dane Boersma passed away on October 15, 2009, after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for more than five years. The Boersma family and Dutch Bros launched an annual fundraiser titled "Drink One for Dane" in 2005 as a way to increase awareness of the disease, raise support for those impacted, and fund research to find treatments and cures. Proceeds from the campaign are donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As of 2021, Dutch Bros has raised more than $10.3 million in support of MDA's ALS programs.

The company donates 1 percent of its gross sales to the communities it operates in. In 2007, Dutch Bros started Dutch Luv, an annual Valentine’s Day canned food drive designed to aid local food banks. In 2016, the company halted the can drive and instead started donating $1 for each drink it sold on Dutch Luv Day. As of February 2021, that effort had raised approximately $1.8 million. In 2010, Dutch Bros started holding its annual Buck For Kids initiative, in which its stores donate $1 per beverage sold to an organization that benefits children, such as a local school district or Boys & Girls Clubs chapter. As of September 2020, the company had raised $2.5 million through Buck For Kids. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company donated its April 2020 profits to First Responders First.