Dunn Bros

Dunn Bros in Linden Hills, Minneapolis

Dunn Bros Coffee is a franchise company of coffeehouses founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in December 1987 by brothers Ed and Dan Dunn.^[1] The first store was opened on Grand Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1987^[2], when Ed Dunn drove a pickup truck loaded with his refurbished 1950s Probat roaster from Portland Oregon to Saint Paul in search of a good, underserved location. The second Dunn Brothers location opened in the Uptown Neighborhood of Minneapolis in 1991 (temporarily operated as the only location while the Grand Avenue store recovered from a 1991 fire).

Locations are primarily in the American Midwest, most notably in Minnesota, where there are 74 locations. In the last few years stores have also opened in Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa. Dunn Bros Coffee is a franchise and most stores are locally owned and operated. One distinguishing feature that separates Dunn Bros from most of its chain competitors is that at every traditional location, the coffee is roasted right in the store, usually on a daily basis.^[3] This allows customers to buy whole beans that are freshly roasted. Three roast levels are often available, a medium Full City, a medium-dark Vienna Roast, and a dark French Roast, which either adds a smoky flavor to the bean (French Roast) or allows subtle nuances to be distinguishable (Full City roast). Some coffee roasters can produce about a dozen roast levels and many types of beans are considered over-roasted as French or Italian. Dunn Bros Coffee does not produce an Italian Roast as it more often than not produces a charred flavor in the highest grades of Arabica beans. The in-store roasting, and small batch sizes typically allow for the availability of 12-15 varieties of whole beans.

Typical cup

As of June 2006, Dunn Bros. was the 9th largest coffee company in the U.S., with 85 locations throughout the country.^[4]

References

1. ^ Staff Report "Retailer Profile: Dunn Bros. Coffee", Tea & Coffee Trade Online, New York, 2007-07. Retrieved on 2010-08-28.
2. ^ About Us | Dunn Bros Coffee Shop Franchises
3. ^ Tanyeri, Dani: "Small Coffee Please: Can tiny-by-comparison chains exploit giant Starbucks' troubles to their advantage?" Restaurant Business 107:6 June 2008 p. 42
4. ^ "The 10 largest coffee chains in the US" (PHP). Slash Food. 2006-06-11. http://www.slashfood.com/2006/06/11/the-10-largest-coffee-chains-in-the-us. Retrieved 2006-12-18. 

External links

• Dunn Bros website