PJ's Coffee vs Dutch Bros: Only One Is a Franchise

PJ’s Coffee sells franchises and its franchise site invites inquiries; Dutch Bros says it “no longer offers the option to franchise” (franchise FAQ, checked 2026-10-14), with the history explained in the Dutch Bros franchise guide. FranchiseFeast does not sell franchises and is not paid by either company. Every figure below comes from a franchisor’s own site or disclosure document or from a company’s SEC filing, all cited at the bottom. None of it is an earnings figure. For fees, investment and Item 19 detail on PJ’s alone, see the full PJ’s cost breakdown. If you want a Dutch Bros-style drive-thru you can buy, see brands like Dutch Bros that franchise.

Can you franchise PJ’s Coffee and Dutch Bros? The short version

PJ’s Coffee publishes an Item 7 investment range and Item 5 franchise fees; Dutch Bros says it “no longer offers the option to franchise” (franchise FAQ, checked 2026-10-14), as the Dutch Bros franchise guide explains.

PJ’s Coffee: the real numbers, by format

PJ’s is the side of this comparison you can act on. Its April 10, 2026 FDD, checked against pjsfranchise.com on September 29, 2026, lists:

Item 7’s totals use a $40,000 first-unit fee ($30,000 non-traditional); the FDD cover page states lower totals ($497,500 to $899,000 inline or end cap, $900,500 to $1,680,000 free-standing, $265,500 to $585,500 non-traditional), which are consistent with the $15,000 low end of the fee range, so quote the Item 7 figures above for a first unit. Item 6 lists a 5 percent royalty, a 2 percent marketing fund and a 1 to 3 percent advertising cooperative, all on net sales. The franchise site’s FAQ quotes only the 5 and 2, so the cooperative is easy to miss. At $100,000 of net sales, the three lines total $8,000 to $10,000. The site’s Investment page lists $500,000 net worth and $175,000 liquid capital, and veterans receive 20 percent off the fee under the VetFran program described in Item 5. The full PJ’s Coffee cost breakdown covers each line, the multi-unit fee step-down and PJ’s Item 20 unit counts, and the franchise royalty calculator lets you test your own sales figures. Confirm every figure in the current FDD, which is the only version that governs your agreement.

For help reading the disclosure, see how to read a coffee franchise Item 19.

Format is the other real difference

Even if you could franchise both, they are different businesses to run. PJ’s FDD describes three unit types: a traditional inline or end-cap unit of roughly 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, a traditional free-standing unit of roughly 780 to 2,000 square feet, and a non-traditional unit of roughly 250 to 1,000 square feet in venues such as airports, sports arenas, hotels, campuses and health care facilities. Item 19 says a traditional unit may or may not have a drive-thru, and each format is expected to employ about 10 to 16 people.

Dutch Bros’ fiscal 2025 annual report describes a model built around the drive-thru: about 85 percent of its business goes through the drive-thru and about 15 percent through walk-up windows, “the vast majority” of shops have no lobby, and only “a handful of legacy ‘coffee houses’” do. It lists three configurations: a legacy shop of about 500 square feet, a current shop of about 800 to 1,000 square feet, and an end-cap shop of about 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, and it targets lots of at least 25,000 square feet.

The buyer who fits PJ’s is choosing a format that can be an in-line cafe, a free-standing building or a venue kiosk, in a franchise system with 167 franchised units. The buyer who wants the Dutch Bros model, a compact drive-thru with a lot-size requirement, is better served by a brand that franchises that format. Our Human Bean versus Dutch Bros breakdown and the roundup of brands like Dutch Bros that do franchise cover those.

Which buyer fits, and what to do next

Because only one of these is for sale, this is two answers to two questions. If you want a coffee franchise you can buy with a published fee, investment table and unit history, PJ’s is the real option, and the next step is requesting its FDD and reading Items 5, 6, 7, 12 and 20 with a franchise attorney.

For Dutch Bros’ internal operator path, see the Dutch Bros franchise guide. Either way, our coffee franchise cost guide puts PJ’s alongside the drive-thru brands you can still buy.