It’s hard to miss the blue-box Dutch Bros coffee drive-thru locations that have been popping up around town since the first of the year. During peak hours, a steady stream of cars and trucks line up with customers anticipating their specialty concoctions. Regional Operator Bryce Schneider moved from Oregon to lead the company’s presence in Bryan College Station, which continues to grow and expand. He talks with Insite Brazos Valley Magazine about his journey with the company, what he loves most about his job, and what local Dutch Bros devotees can expect in the near future.
Q. You brought in the first Dutch Bros to Texas last January, right? Congratulations!
A. I opened up the first shop in Texas [in College Station] and then our second one was in Killeen. Then they opened up another one in Lubbock and then we just hit Dallas, actually, the McKinney area. For the next couple months, we'll be opening about five to six in all the major cities. So Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Waco.
Q. So Dutch Bros really has come to Texas!
A. Yeah. We’ve fully committed. … There was a lot of narrative about how we would be received, and we were just blown away by this community.
Q. The first shop in the Brazos Valley opened on Wellborn in College Station, and then Bryan got a shop on Boonville. How many are you opening in this area?
A. We have five on the books for right now. We have this site here — Baylor Scott and White — and then our next site that will be going in right in front of the Target on Texas Avenue, and then we have our fifth one that will be on University, right across the street from Burger Mojo.
Q. When are those supposed to open?
A. The one on Texas Avenue should open in September, so pretty much right after the students get back. And then the University one we’re shooting for Christmastime.
Q. Dutch Bros is really popular in Oregon. Is that where it started?
A. [We’re] Grants Pass based, which is in Southern Oregon. It's about three-and-a-half hours south of Portland.
Q. How long have you been with the company?
A. A little over nine years. I started in a little town called Newberg, Oregon. It's about 45 minutes outside of Portland. I started back when I was 17, when I was in high school. I had decided I wanted some spending money of my own, … so I got a job as a birthday party host at a jungle gym. I hosted little kids’ birthday parties, and it was super fun. I had a great time doing it. … and then they put a Dutch Bros in the parking lot. I was like, I want to work here. … Then me and my best friend decided hey, we're going to apply. We both applied, and we both ended up getting it.
Q. Did you fall in love with the company?
A. Oh, absolutely. It's my second job I've ever had and plan on having for the rest of my life.
Then I got accepted to Oregon State [in Corvallis] and was like, I can't leave this company yet. I just want to do this! I got hired down at Oregon State, and then the first year, I got into our management program and managed one of the stands down there, and then I managed a few more stands. When I graduated college, I was still in the same mindset. I love this company so much, and it just carried me through college. I had a bunch of awesome mentors that helped me.
Q. Ultimately you started to work for corporate …
A. We have this really cool opportunity called the Mob where you travel and train baristas in other areas, in different states opening up different locations. I spent the year after I graduated traveling and opening up Dutch Bros, and fell in love even more through that. Then I was like, okay, I think I want to settle down and do this for myself, finally, open one up. And then my wife and I got the opportunity to open up here. I met her through Dutch Bros as well.
Q. How did you meet?
A. When I was opening up a store in Colorado Springs, one of her friends worked at one of the stands there, and so she was going to visit them. We met at that opening and hit it off. She happened to live in Salem [Oregon] at the time, which is about 20 to 30 minutes from Corvallis. We just ended up connecting and hanging out when we got back. She still works for the company. She's a recruiter but works for [Dutch Bros] out here. It was a God thing, and it just really worked out. We plan on staying on here for the long haul. It's been better than our wildest dreams so far.
Q. What makes Dutch Bros different from other coffee chains?
A. We hand-make everything. We pull the shots of espresso ourselves. We steam the milk ourselves. There's no automated timer that does everything, so it's the people doing it. We take such good care of our people, to make sure that they handcraft this drink to make it perfect every single time. You're getting a quality product from a person who is passionate about making that product quality.
Q. What do you love the most about being a manager for Dutch Bros?
A. The mentorship you get here. My goal is to create great baristas, but more than that, I just want to create great people and foster good people, so that's what we're all about. If your kids are thinking about applying and working here, and you want to make sure they're in a safe environment where they're going to be treated right and they're going to learn: Dutch Bros is the perfect place for that. I'm always going to be super passionate about the people that are inside of here and setting them up for the rest of their life, to make sure they can leave this place and go, wow, that was the greatest high school job, the greatest college job, or even post-college job that I ever could ask for.
Q. You obviously enjoy talking about your employees.
A. I love my employees! I got so blessed with the best group of people. They set the bar high. We spend so much time through our hiring process, making sure we're getting good, energetic, excited people. And that was a huge part of the reason I came here. I managed college kids for a good five to six years [in Corvallis] and just loved it, just
loved working with passionate people who are excited to go do something cool with their lives … it's fun to provide college kids with a job that they don't necessarily view as a job, but [think], “Oh, awesome! I get to go hang out and make coffee and talk to people!” I want to be flexible for the college students. I know tests come up, I know [Texas] A&M is a difficult school. And the kids here are really involved. They're part of a bunch of different organizations and whatnot. … I want to make sure we have enough people so that if somebody says, hey, my parents are in town. Can I take the week off? Or, hey, I have three tests this week, then we can say, yeah, take the week off, do what you want and come back here to me.
Q. Does Dutch Bros only offer specialty coffee drinks?
A. We do have just the basics, if you want just a latte, if you just want a mocha, if you just want a small black Americano, no fruit flavors in there. We have all of that stuff for what I would call our base customer. But we also obviously offer a ton of crazy combinations — over 400 different drink combinations — for the people who do like trying something new.
Q. Why do you think Dutch Bros is so successful?
A. When we do our orientation, I tell people, “Hey, we're a yes company.” So, if somebody wants something or they need you to fix something, shy of just handing them a million dollars, we're going to do it! A lot of people say coffee’s a necessity, but really, it's a treat.
