Dutch Bros Essay

Dutch Bros Coffee is the country’s largest privately held drive-thru coffee company with over 260 locations and over 5,000 employees in states. They grew from a pushcart in Grants Pass, Oregon and worked their way to fame by winning the hearts of their customers.

Beginning a multi-million dollar company does not always happen intentionally. Travis and Dane Boersma began Dutch Bros by simply trying to earn more money for their family. Travis was 21 and Dane was 38 when the brothers decided the coffee business would be their next career because their family’s dairy farm was struggling. Although they have a seventeen year age gap between them, the Boersma brothers were incredibly close. They decided to team up to help the family and start selling

It's a part of the company's commitment to being eco-friendly. "We're all leaving a footprint," said Jim Thompson, the Phoenix-area franchise owner. "With eight stores, we're literally recycling tons of garbage.” Thompson sees recycling and reducing waste as part of his personal obligation. The company has implemented two eco-friendly plans. The first is to reduce the amount of waste the coffee stands create; the second is to recycle much of the trash they do make. Like many coffee stores, Dutch Bros. sells reusable plastic cups and tumblers. Every time a reusable cup is used, one less paper cup ends up in the trash. As an added incentive to customers, each time a customer uses a reusable cup, 25 cents comes off the cost of the beverage. (That's more than double the discount offered by another large Valley coffee seller.) Much of what would normally be garbage can be recycled, Thompson said. As much as 80 percent of what goes into the Dutch Bros.' garbage is eventually recycled, thanks to a partnership with Waste Management of Arizona. "Think about how many milk cartons we go through in a day," Thompson said. With the new program in place, nearly everything that is shipped to the stores is either consumed or recycled, Thompson said. Milk cartons aren't the only thing the company recycles. From the plastic bags that coffee beans come in, to the cardboard packaging, down to the coffee cups customers discard on

May 5th of 2017 marked the company’s eleventh year partnering with its community to support the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Drink One for Dane began in 2005, after Dutch Bros co-founder Dane Boersma was diagnosed, as a way to raise awareness and support for a disease that was, and still is, not fully understood. In 2009, the company lost Dane to this incurable disease. Drink One for Dane remains a way to honor the legacy of a man who was known to inspire and positively impact all around him and Dutch Bros will continue this fight until a cure for ALS is discovered. To date, Dutch Bros has donated over $2.53 million, with last year bringing in over $758,000: a donation amount the company is looking to surpass this