Dutch Bros will move HQ from Oregon to Arizona

Drive-thru chain Dutch Bros is formally moving its headquarters from its hometown in Grants Pass to its rapidly growing office near Phoenix.

The move isn’t a surprise. Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone has worked in Arizona since the company hired her in 2023 and

the chain began moving many other corporate jobs there early last year

Still, Dutch Bros’ exit is a symbolic blow in Oregon.

It’s the first large, homegrown company to emerge in the state for many generations. With a market capitalization of $11.8 billion, Dutch Bros trails only Nike among Oregon’s most valuable businesses.

“To support the next phase of Dutch Bros’ growth, we’re relocating additional roles to our new Phoenix office and making strategic changes to the structure of several teams,” Dutch Bros told the Portland Business Journal,

which first reported the news of the company’s move

“Bringing more people together will allow us to better serve our customers and crews across the country,” the company said. “With these changes, the Phoenix office will become our official HQ.”

Founded as a single Grants Pass coffee cart in 1992 by Travis Boersma and his late brother Dane, Dutch Bros sells energy drinks, coffee and other beverages in drive-thru stands across the country. It opened its 1,000th drive-thru in March and hopes eventually to have 7,000.

Dutch Bros’ annual sales have grown from $240 million five years ago to $1.3 billion last year. The company forecasts another 22% growth in 2025.

Its fastest-growing markets are in Texas and the Southeast. When Dutch Bros began expanding its corporate offices in Arizona last year the company said it wanted to be closer to those markets, and closer to a major airport so executives could quickly reach other cities. In the past, Dutch Bros has lamented a dearth of childcare in Grants Pass, which the company said made it difficult to recruit young executives with families to southern Oregon.

Dutch Bros has a robust fanbase of young coffee and energy drink enthusiasts, who slap the company’s stickers on their cars, bikes and skateboards and celebrate its colorful drinks online. But despite the company’s rapid ascent, it doesn’t have a high profile in Salem and hasn’t received a lot of attention from Oregon’s political leaders.

State economic development officials didn’t respond Wednesday morning to inquiries about Dutch Bros’ move, or whether the state had made any effort to retain the company’s headquarters. Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said she wouldn’t have a statement on the topic until Thursday.

Dutch Bros has 18,000 employees, most of them working at its drive-thru stands, and another 8,000 at franchised locations.

Historically, the corporate office had about 200 employees in Grants Pass. Dutch Bros said last year it planned to move 40% of those jobs to Arizona.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Dutch Bros plans to relocate or lay off the remaining workers at its current headquarters in Grants Pass. The company didn’t immediately respond to requests for more information.

“We’ll definitely feel the impact. We’ve been fortunate,” said Terry Hopkins, CEO of the Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce. But he said he expects Dutch Bros will still retain significant operations locally.

“All of the roasting facilities and stands will still be here and employing local people,” Hopkins said. The roasting plant employs about a dozen.

Dutch Bros’ growth made Boersma, now the company’s chairman, one of Oregon’s wealthiest residents. Forbes estimates his fortune at about $4 billion.

The Boersma family has stayed in southern Oregon, according to Hopkins, who said he expects they will remain. One child just graduated from high school, he said, and another is still attending school there.

“They still maintain a home here in Grants Pass,” Hopkins said.