The company I chose to research is one that I’ve always been fond of. I grew up in Portland, Oregon during the time that Dutch Bros. Coffee surged to success in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve experienced the growth first hand, living in a city in which they thrive.
The company was started in Grants Pass, Oregon by two brothers and now has locations in seven different states (Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona). While it started as a small family business, it has grown to be much more than that with just under 200 locations in total. Each stand or store is owned locally and has a single manager who leads a team of baristas in a hectic, but very cohesive work environment.
The Dutch Bros. culture is very unique and is something that they’re known for throughout all seven states. As stated on their website, “Dutch Bros. Coffee has always focused more on the people than the bottom line, with a desire to transform lives rather than conduct transactions”. In other words, while they do serve great coffee, among other drinks, they’re all about the customer experience.
The Dutch Bros. Coffee community values a casual, relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The baristas are dressed comfortably, always wearing as many Dutch Bros. items as they can. The casual dress contributes to the overall laid-back atmosphere of the stand or shop.
While there is no mission statement on the Dutch Bros. Coffee website, there is the Optimist’s Creed, or as they call it the “Dutch Creed”. This is a list of ten commandments all about being strong, positive and a great influence on yourself and on those around you. As I stated before, it is very clear that Dutch Bros. Coffee values these types of things highly, above anything else. These core values are not only displayed in their customer service, but they also run through the entire company, from employer to employee and so on.
Another area of interest that the Dutch Bros. Coffee website promotes readily is their active service to the communities which surround them. They have an entire section of the website dedicated to “News & Events” about their latest service achievements. For example, the first title reads, “Grants Pass, ORE- Dutch Bros. Coffee raises over $224,000 and continues the fight against breast cancer…”. There are pages and pages of this portion of the website, highlighting all of the great work that Dutch Bros. stands and shops do all over.
The causes for which money or donations are being collected varies greatly from shop to shop and place to place, reiterating that each of these individual shops is owned locally. Because of this, the owners are much more dedicated to helping the community in which they work so their service is directly related to the needs of that particular community.
The Dutch Bros. Coffee website highlights the companies ideals and core values. They are a successful and growing company that promotes the spread of optimism and service to all of those that surround them.