Dollop Coffee Company

Name

Dollop Coffee Company

Legal name

Dollop Coffee Company

Website

https://dollopcoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Roasting and Café Operations

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI), Coffee Chains & Franchise Cafes (THAFADAB)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roasting
• Coffee cafe chain
• Coffee subscription
• Small batch coffee
• Event catering service

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail café operations: In-person sales at 16 Dollop café locations across Chicagoland and Evanston, IL, including coffee beverages, food, and other café products.
2. Online coffee sales: Direct-to-consumer sale of whole bean coffee (Berried Alive, Brazil Supremo, Dream Team Espresso, Decaf, Ethiopia Guji) with subscription option offering 10% discount. Nationwide shipping.
3. Catering services: Full-service catering for corporate events and intimate gatherings, offering house-roasted coffee service, tea service (via Spirit Tea partnership), food service, and venue rental at Dollop NEMA location.
4. Gift cards: Physical gift cards for in-café purchases and e-gift cards for online store purchases, ranging from $10 to $100.
5. Vendor partnership/brand accelerator: Dollop provides retail shelf space and brand activation opportunities for local niche vendors, helping them reach customers and scale into Sprouts stores nationwide (starting 2027).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Dollop Coffee Company is a Chicago-based specialty coffee roaster and café operator serving handcrafted coffee beverages, in-house baked pastries, and whole bean coffee through 16 café locations across Chicagoland and Evanston, plus an online subscription store shipping nationwide. The company also provides full-service catering for corporate events and operates a brand accelerator program placing local vendor products on café shelves with a planned scale into Sprouts Farmers Market starting in 2027.

Product overview

Dollop Coffee Company operates as a Chicago-based coffee roaster and cafe chain with 14-16 locations across Chicagoland, offering a portfolio of small-batch roasted coffees alongside ancillary products and services. The core product lineup consists of five named coffee offerings: Berried Alive (medium roast blend), Brazil Supremo (darker roast blend), Ethiopia Guji (single-origin), Dream Team Espresso (signature espresso), and Decaf (Swiss Water-processed). These coffee products are sold both at physical cafes and through an online store as 12oz bags with subscription options. Supporting products include e-gift cards and physical gift cards for online and in-person purchases respectively. The company also offers a mobile app for ordering ahead and earning rewards, full-service catering for events, and a vendor partnership program that serves as a brand accelerator for local makers seeking to scale into national retail.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Berried Alive A medium roast house blend of Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil featuring deep berry flavor with notes of açaí, blueberry, and fudge; sold as a 12 oz whole bean bag at café locations and online with subscription pricing for at-home brewing.
• Brazil Supremo A darker roast blend of Brazil and Colombia with rich toffee sweetness, chocolatey depth, and malted chocolate, toasted marshmallow, and persimmon flavors, suited for drip and cold brew; sold as a 12 oz whole bean bag at cafés and online with subscription pricing.
• Ethiopia Guji A single-origin naturally processed Ethiopian coffee from the Kercha district within the Guji zone, with a bright, sweet profile and smooth, refined finish, sourced through Girma Edema's washing station (Guji Coffee Export PLC) and sold as a 12 oz whole bean bag at cafés and online with subscription pricing.
• Dream Team Espresso Dollop's signature espresso blend composed of 40% Guatemala, 40% Peru, and 20% Brazil, featuring a creamy body, bright clementine acidity, and notes of toasted almond, Braeburn apple, and caramel; sold as a 12 oz whole bean bag at cafés and online with subscription pricing.
• Decaf A single-origin Swiss Water-processed Guatemalan decaf coffee highlighting chocolate, almond brittle, and fruit medley flavors; sold as a 12 oz whole bean bag at cafés and online with subscription pricing.
• Catering Services Full-service catering for corporate events and intimate gatherings including house-roasted coffee service, Spirit Tea tea service, made-from-scratch food, on-site barista service, and venue rental at Dollop NEMA; pricing determined per event.
• Dollop Mobile App Proprietary iOS mobile application serving as a digital coffee card, rewards hub, and order-ahead platform connecting customers to pickup orders and early access to local vendor product launches across Dollop café locations.
• Vendor Partnership Program Brand accelerator program pairing local niche vendors with retail shelf placement across Dollop's 16 Chicagoland locations, supporting pop-ups and brand activations and providing a scaling path into Sprouts Farmers Market nationwide distribution starting in 2027.
• Dollop Gift Cards (e-gift and physical) Gift cards for Dollop coffee purchases, including e-gift cards redeemable in the online store (12 oz coffee bags, instant coffee, gear) and physical gift cards redeemable at café locations, available in $10, $25, $50, $75, and $100 denominations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Compostable packaging at all cafés
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and core.

• Sprouts Farmers MarketstrategicChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2027Dollop acts as brand accelerator helping local niche vendors (granola makers, kombucha brewers, etc.) scale into Sprouts stores nationwide. This partnership opportunity enables Dollop's vendor partners to reach broader retail distribution starting in 2027.
• WasteNot CompostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDollop partners with WasteNot Compost to compost at all café locations. This partnership supports Dollop's sustainability commitment, transitioning to compostable, plant-based packaging and making composting easy for customers. Customers signing up for WasteNot home compost services receive a free month of service.
• Spirit TeacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChicago-based Spirit Tea partners with Dollop to provide hand-made, high-quality teas for catering services. This partnership complements Dollop's coffee offerings for events and gatherings where guests prefer non-coffee options.
• Guji Coffee Export PLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationEthiopian coffee sourcing partner owned and operated by Girma Edema with 20+ years of experience. Provides traceable, direct-trade coffee from the Kercha district within the Guji zone. Their control of processing from drying to final export stage ensures quality and clean cup profile.
• Hoosier Mama Pie Co.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-located business at Dollop's Evanston location. Hoosier Mama Pie Co. is a Chicago-based artisan pie company, and their products are featured alongside Dollop coffee at this café location.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster with a growing café footprint and strong DTC subscription business; competing with Dollop for premium home-brewing customers.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster focused on direct-trade sourcing with strong training, wholesale, and DTC channels. Comparable sourcing and quality story.
• Colectivo Coffee: Mid-size specialty roaster with a multi-state café footprint, wholesale, and direct-trade emphasis; comparable regional chain model.
• Dark Matter Coffee: Chicago specialty coffee roaster operating multiple cafés in the same metro, competing head-to-head for the same local coffee enthusiasts and wholesale accounts.
• Metropolis Coffee Company: Chicago-based small-batch roaster with a café presence and strong wholesale and subscription business. Comparable scale and geography to Dollop.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Specialty roaster with cafés, wholesale, and DTC. Now owned by Peet's, but operates with similar craft positioning to Dollop.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with cafés across multiple US cities, DTC subscriptions, and wholesale accounts. Comparable direct-to-consumer and café-plus-roaster model at larger scale.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Chicago-born specialty coffee roaster with cafés, wholesale, and DTC subscriptions. Closest direct competitor in the same city with the same small-batch roasting and café model.

Broad incumbents

• Peet's Coffee: Established national coffee company with owned cafés, grocery distribution, and subscription — competes with Dollop in DTC and wholesale but at a much larger, more generalist scale.

Others

• Spirit Tea: Chicago-based specialty tea partner that already works with Dollop for catering. Thematically adjacent specialty beverage brand and a relevant ecosystem peer for category positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DollopCoffeeCo
• Facebookfacebook.com/DollopCoffeeCo
• Instagraminstagram.com/dollopcoffeeco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dollop-coffee-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 Dollop Coffee Company