Another coffee chain, one with a much smaller Arizona footprint, told a Texas bankruptcy court Aug. 7 that it had submitted a better offer to buy Salad and Go’s assets than Dutch Bros.
7 Brew, which announced its first Arizona locations in 2025, said the company had submitted a letter of intent that offered a better dollar-for-dollar value than Dutch Bros’ offer, Ross Fiedler, an attorney representing 7 Brew, said at the hearing.
“I think there have been burdens placed on this marketing process that are not really consistent with obtaining the highest and best price,” Fiedler, with the law firm Kirkland and Ellis, said in the hearing.
Fielder did not describe what 7 Brew’s offer was but said his client had submitted an updated bid to Salad and
Go Aug. 7, days after the sale agreement with Dutch Bros was filed with the court.
“We don't see how any record here can support the notion that they obtain the highest value,” Fiedler said in the hearing.
According to 7 Brew’s website, the chain has two Arizona locations, both in Tucson. Like Salad and Go, the locations are a small footprint without a kitchen hood, and the existing locations would be easy to convert, Fiedler said in the hearing.
According to documents filed by Salad and Go, it assessed 16 potential buyers and determined that three, Dutch Bros and two competitors, were the most likely candidates. A representative from Salad and Go visited both top two options in July.
The top two were Dutch Bros and 7 Brew, according to Fiedler.
In the meetings, both companies said they wanted a direct sale without an auction process and insisted on exclusivity to prevent Salad and Go from pitting the bids against one another.
Representatives from Salad and Go said in the filing they were willing to allow a direct sale, rather than hold an auction, because they believed that both parties increased their purchase price in the condition of the direct sale, and that both offered prices would pay creditors in full.
Dutch Bros was selected for “deal certainty, speed of closing, limited conditionality, and overall value to the estates,” according to the filing.
Dutch Bros has submitted a $10 million deposit into an escrow account and will pay $105 million for Salad and Go’s assets, according to an agreement filed with the court.
In the company’s Aug. 5 earnings call, Dutch Bros CFO Joshua Guenser said closed Salad and Go locations would be converted into Dutch Bros coffee drive-throughs in 2027.
“We look at this as a great opportunity for us to get a hold of some fantastic real estate in markets where we see a lot of potential to continue growing,” Guenser said during the call.
“So while we have several shops here in Arizona and Nevada, we still see a significant amount of white space ahead and availability for us to be able to go after creating more of that daily routine and a daily occasion with customers.”
The matter was expected to be addressed at a Sept. 1 hearing in the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court.
Corina Vanek covers development for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Small coffee chain says it submitted better offer to buy Salad and Go
