Dutch Bros wants more than 2,000 shops by 2029. | Photo: Shutterstock.
One relatively easy way to open a bunch of shops at once is to just buy them in one fell swoop.
That’s what Dutch Bros did earlier this year when it acquired Clutch Coffee, a drive-thru coffee chain that immediately gives the brand 20 locations in the Carolinas after they’ve been converted.
Don’t be surprised to see more of these types of deals. Executives with Dutch Bros said that they’re always looking for opportunities to buy existing concepts and convert them to their brand.
“We’re always looking for either ground-up builds or conversion opportunities,” CFO Joshua Guenser told analysts. “Clutch provides us a great opportunity to grab ahold of 20 sites in a market … and to be able to enter that market relatively rapidly at a very capital-efficient way. So, as we think forward, we’ll always be looking for conversion opportunities.”
Dutch Bros executives said this after reporting a quarter in which every metric the company reports headed in the right direction. Same-store sales rose 7.7%, with 5.4% traffic. Revenues at the chain rose 29.4%. Net income increased 300% to $29.2%. The company opened 55 new shops in 17 states.
The chain is in a race with another fast-growing drive-thru beverage brand in 7 Brew, which finished 2025 with more than 600 locations.
Dutch Bros has more than 1,100 locations in 25 states and plans to have at least 2,029 by 2029. The chain expects to open at least 181 restaurants this year. More than 70% of the chain’s locations are company run, a figure that is expected to increase over time.
The number of shops in the company’s pipeline more than doubled compared with 2024 and the chain now has 475 operator candidates waiting for their stores.
Executives said they are not having major problems with real estate, even with competition from other drive-thru chains.
“We’re seeing great real estate availability,” CEO Christine Barone said. “And as I think our brand continues to grow, we’re just an incredibly attractive tenant for folks out there.”
Dutch Bros has also lowered the cost it takes to open a new unit. The chain shifted to a “build-to-suit” model, which has lowered the cost to open a location by about $500,000, to $1.3 million from $1.8 million in 2024.
The company is also getting into new models. One of the openings late last year was a walk-up location in Los Angeles, which will test the chain’s strategy in urban markets where a drive-thru unit doesn’t work. The location has been the chain’s top-performing shop since it opened in November, Barone said. And its mix of mobile orders is more than three times the system average.
Dutch Bros spent about $20 million to buy Clutch Coffee. The founder of that chain used to work with Dutch Bros, so it makes the conversion that much easier.
Conversions of existing real estate are common in the restaurant industry, though usually that real estate has been abandoned in one form or another by an existing restaurant, bank or other industry. Companies in expansion mode will routinely take the best real estate, whether it’s a conversion or a ground-up build.
It’s less common for chains to buy smaller chains and convert them, though certainly a few brands have done so over the years, such as the daytime dining concept First Watch.
Dutch Bros has quietly been buying up existing concepts and converting them to its brand, which it believes is a more efficient way to expand. “Last year, a number of shops we opened were conversions of different types of concepts,” Barone said. “This is something that’s been in our portfolio for a while, being able to take attractive real estate and turn it into a Dutch Bros.
“So we’ll just continue to look for the best real estate opportunities.”
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.
