Florida-based franchise Ellianos currently operates 23 stores in the US with a further 80 in development | Photo credit: Ellianos Coffee

US drive-thru coffee chain Ellianos Coffee is set to reach its 100-store milestone after signing a new franchise deal.  

The Florida-based franchise currently operates 23 stores in the South East of the US with a further 80 in development. 
 

In May 2022 Ellianos Coffee announced a $25m partnership with the First Federal Bank to streamline the lending process for franchisees in a bid to accelerate outlet growth. 

Founded in 2002, Ellianos is now seeking franchisees in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina to further accelerate its growth, which it reports as ‘exponential’. 

"We are very excited about the growth and brand momentum at Ellianos; however, every single store in our franchise that is signed or opened, we keep the focus back on the local community with that local owner-operator mindset," said Chad Stewart, Vice President of Franchise Development, Ellianos Coffee. 

Drive-thru became an increasingly attractive strategy for US coffee chains to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 trading restrictions, with the model having sustained its appeal even as trading returned to normalcy. 

The growth of the operating model has been particularly noticeable in the last 12 months, with fellow US drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros targeting 130 new stores this year, which would see the Oregon-based chain exceed 650 outlets. 

Meanwhile, Nebraska-based drive-thru franchise Scooter's Coffee is targeting 600 operational stores by the start of 2023. 

However, with more than 6,400 sites, Dunkin’ is by far the largest drive-thru operator in the US, ahead of Starbucks’ circa-4,000 locations.