Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone on leading one of the fastest growing chains in America

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 17 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Christine Barone, CEO of Dutch Bros. This is the third edition in our Signature Series, which are conversations with some of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry. And there are few companies bigger right now than Dutch Bros, which is turning heads all across the U.S. as it races across the country and redefines the coffee category. Christine was named CEO early in 2024 to steer the brand into its next growth phase, and Sam sat down with her at Dutch Bros’ new headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, to learn more about her leadership style, how she’s bringing lessons from her previous roles at Starbucks and True Food Kitchen into the CEO gig at Dutch Bros, and how the company plans to maintain its cool vibe and strong company culture amid rapid growth.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

You must give every position you have 110%
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Sometimes you have to say no to good ideas
Your team should have fun while working in your restaurants
Time spent on your infrastructure will pay off down the road as growth
Guests want to be a part of your brand even beyond the menu

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:04.9	I'm Sam Ocas editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:09.3	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:13.4	This week I'm talking with Christine Barone, the CEO of Dutch Bros.
0:17.9	This is the third edition in our signature series, which are conversations with
0:22.3	some of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry. And there are few companies bigger
0:27.6	right now than Dutch Bros, which is turning heads all across the U.S. as it races across the country
0:33.6	and redefines the coffee category. Dutch Bros was founded in 1992, but only in the past
0:39.4	five years has it become a household name, going from 370 locations in 2019 to about
0:45.8	1,000 at the end of 2024, according to Technomic, and from about a half billion dollars in sales
0:52.0	to about $2 billion in sales in that same time frame.
0:55.4	Now the company is planning to double its unit count in the next four years, and Christine was
1:01.1	named CEO early in 2024 to steer the brand into that next growth phase.
1:06.2	I sat down with Christine at Dutch Bros. New headquarters in Tempe, Arizona to learn more about
1:12.4	her leadership style, how she's bringing lessons from her previous roles at Starbucks and
1:17.2	True Food Kitchen into the CEO gig at Dutch Bros, and how the company plans to maintain its
1:22.6	cool vibe and strong company culture amid rapid growth.
1:26.6	In this interview, you will learn more about why you must give every position you have
1:30.8	110%, why sometimes you have to say no to good ideas, and why time spent on your
1:36.9	infrastructure will pay off down the road as growth.
1:40.0	By the way, there are lots of extra goodies in this signature episode, including footage
1:45.0	of me playing pickleball on their in-office court. So be sure to head over to nrn.com slash
	...

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