Dutch Bros. CEO details nationwide expansion strategy as company nears 900 locations

• Dutch Bros. CEO Christine Barone discussed her company’s expansion strategy in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, saying the coffee chain focuses on training employees when they move to a new market.
• Barone said Dutch Bros. is “on the path” to 4,000 stores and hit 876 locations this quarter.

Dutch Bros. CEO Christine Barone discussed her company’s expansion strategy in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, saying the coffee chain focuses on training employees when they go to a new market.

“We only grow as we’re ready to have people who are ready to go into these new markets and open new shops,” Barone said. “So, we have our operators that move from all over the country to our new markets.”

Barone said Dutch Bros. is “on the path” to 4,000 stores and hit 876 locations this quarter. The chain first opened in Oregon and now has stores in 17 states, many on the West Coast and in the South. She added that Dutch Bros. just opened its first two shops in Florida, saying they’re focused on that market as well as Texas and Tennessee, and will be starting to move up the East Coast.

Dutch Bros. beat analysts’ expectations when it reported earnings Tuesday evening, and shares closed 12% higher Wednesday. The company’s success follows a weaker-than-expected quarter from competitor Starbucks whose CEO Laxman Narasimhan indicated on a post-earnings conference call last month that customers have been “more exacting” about where and how they spend their money in this environment.

Barone, who took over as CEO in January, attributed some of Dutch Bros.’ success to its emphasis on customer service. She also lauded the company’s initiatives over the past quarter, saying it focused on its rewards program and launched two new products, protein milk coffee and boba.

“We’ve been doing this since 1992 … and I think have worked on a lot of things to get this right,” she said.

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