Shelley Widhalm

The Surveyor

Mead-based Ziggi’s Coffee opened its 19^th store in Berthoud on Tuesday to tie in with the company’s small-town feel and to celebrate 15 years of business.

“This is the perfect town. It fits our culture,” said Brandon Knudsen, co-owner of Ziggi’s Coffee with his wife, Camrin. “I love Berthoud because … it’s very much a small-town community. That’s who we are and what we are about.”

Ziggi’s Coffee Drive Thru at 1101 Mountain Avenue has a drive-thru lane, a walk-up window and a large patio with six tables and room to grow. The drive-thru caters to commuters, students stopping in for their lunch break and those who want to get their coffee and go. At busy times in the morning, staffing is at five or six and in the afternoon, two to three—the total staff is 20.

“For us, it’s about speed,” Knudsen said, explaining that the drive-thru can stack more than 20 cars in an easily accessible lane. “Our goal is to get people to get through the drive-thru as fast as possible. … We set this up to be very convenient. This is super easy to navigate.”

The building, which is open to the public, is 624 square feet and sits on 1.3 acres—that’s what was available and also is in a central location, Knudsen commented. The acreage includes a large grassy area that with the patio seating, four large boulders used as makeshift benches and an outdoor stereo system can serve as a hangout area.

“It’s a very inviting, fun, warm atmosphere. … Berthoud needs another hangout,” Knudsen said. “We want to add to what Berthoud already has going on.”

A few of the Ziggi’s Coffee locations include coffeehouses alongside the drive-thrus, but the drive-thrus from a labor and training standpoint are a more economical model, Knudsen said. Seventy percent of the company’s business is drive-thru, he said.

The Berthoud location serves a full espresso menu, fruit smoothies and Italian sodas, plus breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches and bakery items. There also are 40 syrup flavors, including 18 sugar-free varieties.

“We will make it any way you want it,” Knudsen said. “Our goal is to be the best part of the customer’s day.”

Ziggi’s Coffee takes pride in its specialty drink, the Colorado Mocha, a combination of chocolate, coconut and almond that can be blended, iced or served hot. The company partners with Coda Coffee in Denver to source its coffee and has been roasting it for 14 years.

The Knudsens opened their first Ziggi’s Coffee in downtown Longmont in 2004 and their ninth in Loveland in 2017. They have 17 locations in Colorado and one each in Arizona and Oklahoma. They opened four locations in the last year and plan to open three more in Loveland in the next year, plus additional locations in California, Pennsylvania and Iowa. They started a franchise company 2 ½ years ago and now have 11 franchises, including the Loveland store, and own seven including the one in Berthoud.

Ziggi’s Coffee in Berthoud is open 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call the drive-thru at 303-682-5120, or visit ziggiscoffee.com or facebook.com/ZiggisCoffee. 

“We want to be Berthoud’s local coffee shop,” Knudsen said. “We are going to be an inviting, community coffee shop.”