Southern Grounds

What Southern Grounds does

Southern Grounds & Co. is a privately held, chef-driven coffeehouse chain founded in February 2016 by Mark Janasik in Neptune Beach, Florida. The company operates neighborhood cafés serving direct-trade Intelligentsia Coffee alongside a scratch kitchen program running from open until 9 PM, covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner with bowls, grain plates, sandwiches, grass-fed beef burgers, salads, and a rotating chef's menu. Sourcing emphasizes premium and traceable partners including Brasstown Beef, Verlasso Salmon, Trader Hill Aquaponics Farm, Kilogram Tea, Plugrá Butter, and Makenu chocolate. The business operates through three revenue streams: in-store food and beverage sales across company-owned cafés, catering for off-premise events, and private event venue rentals ($2,000-$5,000 per buyout, capacity up to 200 guests).

As of the data provided, Southern Grounds runs eight locations across Northeast Florida (Neptune Beach, San Marco, Avondale, St. Augustine, Jacksonville Beach, San Pablo, Brooklyn), Tampa Bay (St. Petersburg opened August 2025), and Charlotte, NC (announced 2026). The first franchised unit opened in St. Petersburg in August 2025, and the company has since formalized a franchise program targeting 12 Southeast states with two investor tracks: multi-unit restaurant operators and family offices/PE investors. Franchise investment ranges from $740K to $1.7M per unit, and management reports Average Unit Volume of $1.8M+ versus a $600K industry average. Headcount is 101-250 employees, and the brand is positioned as a community-focused emerging chain in NRN reporting on regional Southeast coffee growth. The company is part of a five-concept hospitality group under founder Mark Janasik and remains privately held with no institutional investors, parent company, or public market activity disclosed.

Name

Southern Grounds

Legal name

Southern Grounds & Co.

Website

https://southerngrounds.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Southern Grounds & Co. is a privately held, chef-driven coffeehouse chain founded in 2016 by Mark Janasik, operating eight cafés across Northeast Florida, Tampa Bay, and Charlotte, NC. The brand serves direct-trade Intelligentsia Coffee and scratch-kitchen meals throughout the day, and began franchising in 2025 targeting 12 Southeast states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffeehouse

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (72232)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Coffee Chains & Franchise Cafes (THAFADAB)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee retail
• Chef-driven dining
• Coffeehouse franchising
• Scratch kitchen cafe
• Private event catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Neptune Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. In-Store Food and Beverage Sales: Full-day dining destination revenue from coffee beverages, espresso drinks, and chef-driven food menu including breakfast, lunch, and dinner service. Premium pricing supported by direct-trade Intelligentsia coffee and premium ingredients.
2. Catering Services: Catering brings café-quality food and coffee to external events including morning meetings, working lunches, showers, birthdays, and celebrations. Order for pickup or delivery with custom menu options.
3. Private Event Venue Rental: Venue rental for private events including full buyouts, partial buyouts, and patio rentals. Pricing ranges from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on location and format. Capacity ranges from 30 to 200 guests.
4. Franchise Fees: Franchise investment ranges from $740K to $1.7M per unit. Supports multi-unit development rights for qualified operators.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Southern Grounds & Co. operates chef-driven neighborhood coffeehouses serving Intelligentsia direct-trade specialty coffee alongside a full scratch-kitchen menu running from open until 9 PM (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). The brand extends this in-café experience through catering services for off-site events, private event venue rentals (30–200 guests), and a Southeast U.S. franchise program offering multi-unit development rights to qualified operators and investors.

Product overview

Southern Grounds & Co. operates as a chef-driven coffeehouse chain offering a unified hospitality experience. The core product is the neighborhood coffeehouse serving Intelligentsia Coffee and scratch-kitchen meals throughout the day. This core offering is extended through two service modules: Catering Services for off-site events and Private Events & Venues for in-location gatherings. The company also offers a Franchise program for expansion across the Southeast. The portfolio functions as a single integrated hospitality brand rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Southern Grounds & Co. Coffeehouse

Quantifiable outcome

• 3x industry average revenue per unit ($1.8M+ vs $600K industry average)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator with national presence; comparable in premium direct-trade coffee program and cafe-with-food positioning.
• Dutch Bros Coffee: Public specialty coffee drive-thru chain with deep Southeast presence; competes for the same franchisee pool and offers broader scale and capital intensity than Southern Grounds.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Direct-trade third-wave coffee roaster and cafe operator (owned by Peet's); comparable in third-wave positioning and specialty sourcing partnerships relevant to Southern Grounds' Intelligentsia-led program.

Direct peers

• Scooter's Coffee: Franchise-led specialty coffee chain expanding rapidly across the U.S. with a similar kiosk/café hybrid model; named alongside Southern Grounds as a comparable emerging chain.
• Foxtail Coffee Co. Florida-based specialty coffee chain offering direct-trade coffee alongside a chef-driven food program and expanding via franchise across the Southeast — the closest comparable to Southern Grounds by geography, menu mix, and growth stage.
• 7 Brew: Aggressively franchising specialty coffee drive-thru chain explicitly cited alongside Southern Grounds in industry coverage; competes for the same Southeast franchisee and consumer pools.
• Black Rock Coffee Bar: Premium specialty coffee franchise expanding across multiple U.S. regions with a similar unit-volume and franchise-led growth playbook; comparable in customer experience positioning and unit economics.
• First Watch: Florida-founded chef-driven breakfast, brunch, and lunch chain with a similar scratch-kitchen daypart strategy; directly comparable in chef-led menu positioning and Florida heritage.
• Another Broken Egg Cafe: Chef-driven breakfast and lunch franchise with all-day scratch kitchen similar to Southern Grounds' food program; comparable franchise model and Southeast footprint.

Emerging players

• Vicious Biscuit: Chef-driven Southern breakfast franchise based in the Carolinas with a similar scratch-kitchen daypart strategy and emerging multi-state expansion; partial overlap in customer segment and franchise growth model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SouthernGroundsandco
• Instagraminstagram.com/southerngroundsco/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-grounds-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Grounds