MULO Brands With Soul May Pick: Clutch Coffee

We typically profile big multi-location brands in this column, but we were so impressed by this story from Darren Spicer, Co-Founder of Clutch Coffee, that we just had to include it. The brand currently has 20 drive-thru locations in both North Carolina and South Carolina and plans to open five more in the near future.

Although many people choose coffee based simply on taste and convenience, “soul” matters too! This month, we had the honor of talking to Spice about his brand and vision.

Why did you decide not to join a big multi-location brand?

“Ironically, I had worked for a large, multi-location brand before this. I was in their franchise qualification program, and 75% of the way through, they changed and removed the program altogether. So, franchising was no longer an option, and I still wanted to pursue owning my own coffee shop. That inspired me to branch out and start CLUTCH coffee.

I launched the first location in Mooresville, North Carolina, in 2018 alongside my co-founders, starting with $450,000 of our own money and a mission to reimagine what drive-thru coffee could feel like—fast, personal, and rooted in community.”

What are some of the lessons you learned in starting your own business?

“Prepare for the unexpected.  Map out a detailed plan of what you want to accomplish, and then make a secondary plan for if and when the first one goes off track.

Choose your partners wisely. Make sure there are people who are like-minded, with the same work ethic, and life outlook.

People question you and doubt you along the way. Keep pushing and stay focused on what you set out to achieve.”

Do you ever think you’ll scale locally or expand nationally?

“We are focused on densifying in the Carolinas specifically and being a true, original, Carolina-born drive-through coffee brand.

There’s an opportunity for us to scale outside of that region, but we aren’t there yet. Our focus is to own our backyard first.”

Most importantly, why do you believe your brand has soul? How does this play out in your day-to-day management practices? 

“Because we are, in a word —  CLUTCH.  Every action we take, and every step we make is done with the clutch coffee customer experience in mind, and building relationships with those customers. It’s real, authentic, and people-driven.

• Management:  We believe in the notion of servant leadership. We lead with love and lead by example.

• Marketing: We love featuring our own employees and customers, versus something that is scripted or looks manufactured. Real, raw yet captivating content that someone could look at and say, “That’s me. I can relate to them.”

• Customer experience: We highly encourage our employees to be themselves and invest in the relationships with their customers. They are the reason we are allowed to have such a fun, kick-ass job.

• Our Clutch Cares program: We’ve donated over $120,000 to local and national charitable causes that are directly relevant in the communities we serve. We support dozens of high schools and host proceeds days, where we donate 100% of the proceeds back to the school to support local education and athletics. We believe in being tremendous stewards of any community we enter, and we walk the walk.”

To learn more about brands (both large and start-up) that have soul and are doing creative things within and outside the franchise world, please join us at Street Fight LIVE 2025 in September, where we have sessions dedicated to these topics.