Owning a coffee shop has a certain romance to it—surrounded by the delectable aroma of freshly ground coffee beans, serving regular customers who find comfort and social interaction while hanging out in your shop, and building a business that brings in a satisfying income.
Then, you consider the sheer number of available coffee shop franchises , and it’s hard to know which one would make the best investment. Should you go with the biggest name, like Starbucks? Or should you consider a smaller brand whose rise you can ride along to great heights?
Here’s a look at several popular or rising coffee chains available and how they compare, so you can see how the perks add up.
Let’s Compare 9 of the Best Coffee Shop Franchises in USA
1. Starbucks Coffee Franchise
It may surprise you to know that Starbucks Coffee isn’t a franchise. Each location of the chain is corporate-owned, and the Seattle-based company doesn’t award franchises. They grant licenses to allow investors to, essentially, rent the Starbucks brand to run each store for them.
In this way, they keep greater control over the products, brand image, and quality. The person running the coffee shop invests the money to open the location and license the brand recognition inherent in the Starbucks name. They run the location, and Starbucks reaps the profits.
The Starbucks Coffee brand has more than 15,000 locations in the United States and has grown to more than 30,000 locations worldwide since its beginning in Seattle in 1971.
Starbucks does not operate like a Just Love Coffee franchise, where our franchise owners do own their franchise location. They receive support and marketing strategies from our franchise brand, and they are an integral part of the Just Love Coffee Cafe family.
2. Just Love Coffee Shop franchise
The Just Love Coffee franchise is well on its way to becoming as widely recognized as the Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee brands that have been around longer. Our franchise model is a definite competitor with more than 40 locations across the US, and more openings every year.
Learn more about Just Love Coffee Shop franchise
The Just Love Coffee Cafe business model is simple but highly scalable, making our franchise easy for investors to develop. Our unique menu also gives our Just Love Coffee franchises a higher-than-average revenue stream that makes our brand desirable for franchisees. We’d love to hear from investors interested in single- or multi-unit franchise ownership with the Just Love Coffee franchise brand. Contact us today to learn how to become part of the Just Love family!
3. Black Rifle Coffee Franchise
The Black Rifle Coffee Company was founded in 2014 by Evan Hafer, a former Green Beret in the Army, whose sales of his Freedom Roast coffee through a friend’s clothing website did so well, it launched the brand. Then, the Black Rifle Coffee brand gained national attention in 2017 when it pledged to hire 10,000 veterans in response to Starbucks’ pledge to hire 10,000 refugees.
Today, there are 85 Black Rifle Coffee franchise locations in 27 states, and the ties to the military give the company a mission statement that speaks to potential investors and customers alike. It’s important to note that Black Rifle Coffee only awards franchises to veterans, while Just Love Coffee is seeking savvy individuals who are interested in becoming a meaningful part of their community. The coffee is also distributed in some unique places, like firing ranges, tactical stores, and some Bass Pro Shops.
The Black Rifle Coffee franchise ethos shows a love of country whereas the Just Love Coffee franchise places its heart with the family and acts of charity. This can be a distinguishing factor when choosing where to invest.
4. Scooter’s Coffee Franchise
The Scooter’s Coffee franchise began in Bellevue, Nebraska in 1998 when owners Don and Linda Eckles opened the first drive-thru location with a commitment to quality coffee served with a big smile. Today, there are over 400 stores in 23 different states.
The biggest difference between Scooter’s Coffee and the Just Love Coffee franchise model is the drive-thru concept. While Just Love Coffee does have a couple of locations with a drive-through option, our customers are invited to come into our cafes, stay for a while, enjoy their coffee and food, relax with a book or finish that paper for an upcoming class. We never rush customers out the door. However, we can be quick with our waffle iron menu items, since nothing we serve takes that long if our guests are stopping in for a quick bite between commitments.
At Just Love Coffee Cafe, we just love to be part of our customers’ day.
5. Caribou Coffee Franchise
The Caribou Coffee Company was founded in Edina, Minnesota in 1992. Since they began franchising in 2005, more than 700 locations of the Caribou Coffee franchise have opened worldwide, 441 of which have opened in the US.
Caribou Coffee franchise and the Just Love Coffee franchise share similarities in that they have smaller footprints and a love for providing customers with a cozy, inviting cafe to hang out. Where Just Love Coffee Cafe pulls ahead is in the menu, offering more variety than handheld sandwiches and bakery items. The Just Love Coffee Cafe menu is full of delicious, Instagrammable foods, many of which meet healthy requirements, too. It’s a menu full of love.
6. Dutch Bros Coffee Franchise
The Dutch Brothers Coffee Franchise is no longer awarding new franchisees, but the commonalities between this brand and Just Love Coffee couldn’t be overlooked. Dutch Brothers Coffee started as a coffee pushcart in Grants Pass, Oregon by Dane and Travis Boersma. Dutch Bros Coffee has made its mark, franchising since 2000 with the opening of more than 400 franchise locations in the US. The menu boasts classics with extreme names like the Double Torture (extra double shot vanilla mocha) or Annhilator (chocolate macadamia nut breve) as well as cold brews, Americano, and even energy drinks.
The Dutch Bros Coffee and Just Love Coffee franchises have a common love of community and show it through giving back. Dutch Bros Coffee lost their co-founder, Dane, to ALS in 2009, and commemorates his accomplishments with Drink One for Dane. For one day in May every year, the company raises funds through Drink One for Dane for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to help end ALS.
Similarly, Just Love Coffee began as a for-profit venture where funds were meant to defray the cost of adoption for families looking to give children loving homes. Now, CEO Rob Webb commits support through Roots of Love, the non-profit arm of Just Love Coffee that supports adoptive kids and families. Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise owners are encouraged to support causes close to their hearts as well and are given the space to do so.
7. Biggby Coffee Franchise
Begun in 1995 in Lansing, Michigan, the Biggby Coffee franchise now has more than 280 locations across the United States. Biggby Coffee embraces community engagement, which is something the Just Love Coffee Cafe family can relate to.
Again, the big difference between the Biggby Coffee franchise and our Just Love Coffee franchise is the quality of the food menu. Biggby Coffee, like Caribou Coffee, keeps to the breakfast sandwich and pastry market, while Just Love Coffee Cafe offers our customers a menu that can satisfy each meal at any time of the day.
8. Peet’s Coffee Franchise
This specialty brand of coffee began in Berkeley, California in 1966 by Alfred Peet, introducing the flavors of darker roasted Arabica coffee blends—including French roast—to the American palate. Today, they offer fresh brewed coffee and espressos, freshly roasted beans, and bottled cold brew. They also sell their brand of beans in grocery stores across the country. There are more than 200 Peet’s Coffee franchises in the US to date.
Just Love Coffee franchises have a distinguished coffee roasting origin as well. CEO Rob Webb hails from a rich family tradition of coffee roasters, and it shows in every bag of small-batch hand-roasted specialty coffee beans with the Just Love Coffee logo on them. Our light roasts are our specialty, but we have popular light, medium, and dark roasts. We serve fair trade, organic, or direct trade only. It’s quality coffee that has earned us Finalist status for Roaster of the Year three times from Roast Magazine.
9. Black Rock Coffee Franchise
The Black Rock Coffee Bar opened in 2008 in Portland, Oregon, and has over 100 stores across the US. The company is the effort of three families, and their target is the suburban enclaves of major cities. With the office worker’s schedule shifting to working from home, suburban coffee shops have seen an uptick in traffic, and Black Rock Coffee Bars are filling that demand as the customer base finds its new groove.
The opposite is true for the Just Love Coffee franchise, whose first location was not well-trafficked or noticeable at all. It was intended to be a roastery only, supplying the Webb family’s coffee roasting business that serviced office-based customers. They had a small coffee bar where passersby could sample the products, and people loved the coffee so much, they insisted on paying for full cups. There wasn’t good signage or an obvious storefront, but that didn’t stop the demand. Eventually, Rob Webb realized the demand needed to be addressed, and the first Just Love Coffee franchise location was opened, much to the thrill of an already loyal customer base.