Media Credit: Jarod Opperman [Click to enlarge]

Every day people around the world consume 1.4 billion cups of coffee, and the drink is the second largest export in the world behind oil. The United States guzzles more coffee than any other nation, and the demand for the brew is high, especially among sleep-deprived college students on the go and short on cash. When they need a quick pick me up, or for some, even a new job, many turn to Dutch Bros., a company that started locally and is fast growing into a national phenomenon.

Dane and Travis Boersma, the Dutch brothers from Grants Pass, Ore., saw coffee as more than just a drink, to them the bean provided a whole new world of opportunities. Their family dairy farm was facing closure as government violations and expensive mandatory upgrades dried up any future profit hopes and the daily chore of milking cows was utterly boring.

"The brothers have this joke that one day they were milking cows when one turned to the other and said 'anything is better than this,' they agreed and decided to move on," Jeremy Webber said. Webber has worked at the 311 E. 11th Ave. stand for the past three years, but also worked with the Boersma brothers in Grants Pass during 1995.

Leaving the dairy farm, the brothers purchased a pushcart, loaded it with a few coffee urns and a one-head coffee machine, and strolled through downtown Grants Pass operating as small-time coffee peddlers. Working with a wholesale coffee roaster in Eugene, the brothers perfected their three-bean private reserve blend using customers as their guinea pigs. They handed out free coffee to anyone walking by, and with customer feedback the roast was eventually up to par with their expectations. The brothers blared music from their coffee junction and turned the G Street and 6th Street corner into a Java party. Eventually coffee prices soared to $1 per cup, and the Boersmas were in business.

Their amiable attitude and easy access by walking or driving up to order caught on quickly, and proved to be the foundation of success for the company that started with a pushcart and now serves coffee in cups adorned with windmills and flowers at 115 drive-up stands in six states and grossed $30 million in 2005.

Continued...

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