Florida-based Ellianos Coffee currently operates 22 drive-thru outlets across the state | Photo credit: Ellianos Coffee

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

Founded in 2002, the Florida-based drive-thru chain currently has 22 outlets in operation and more than 60 in development.

With Ellianos targeting more expedient growth and franchisee satisfaction, First Federal Bank will evaluate the needs of each franchisee to provide the best lending option to suit their business goals, either a Small Business Administration (SBA) Loan, with terms of 15 years, or a traditional Commercial Loan, which includes terms up to 10 years.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to be working with First Federal Bank. Every member of their team is truly committed to their core values and ready to help our franchisees accomplish their business goals. We're looking forward to seeing our new and existing franchisees succeed as a result of this key relationship,” said Scott Stewart, President of Ellianos Coffee.

Ellianos Coffee experienced record-breaking sales throughout 2020, crediting the franchise’s double-sided drive-thru-only model as ‘perfectly poised’ to accommodate the unique pandemic conditions.

World Coffee Portal research from January 2021 found that drive-thru became an increasingly attractive strategy for US coffee businesses to mitigate the impact of Covid-19. The proportion of US consumers surveyed favouring drive-thru over entering a coffee shop increased from 48% in 2019 to 63% in 2020.

Indicating the sustained appeal of drive-thru coffee shops as US emerges from the pandemic, fellow US drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros reported revenues of of 54% to $152m for the first quarter of 2022. 

Earlier this year, Ellianos Coffee was named a Top Franchise for 2022 by Franchise Business Review, as well as inclusion in the top 500 franchises in Entrepreneur‘s Franchise 500.