Dog Haus partners with Keurig Dr Pepper in exclusive deal
The fast-casual chain will offer the beverage company’s fountain and ready-to-drink options and also use the products in cocktails and other innovations.
June 29, 2026
Dog Haus has moved away from the two largest soft-drink suppliers and instead formed an exclusive partnership with Keurig Dr Pepper, parent company of 7UP, Sunkist, and RC Cola as well as its namesake soda and craft-beverage brand Tractor.
It’s the first restaurant chain to partner exclusively with the beverage company and leverage its complete portfolio.
Dog Haus CEO Michael Montagano said the agreement was motivated by an effort to allow franchisees of the 58-unit chain greater flexibility to tailor options to their communities and also provide the kinds of unique drink options that a growing number of customers are looking for.
“At Dog Haus, we’ve never followed industry norms, but rather looked for opportunities to do things outside of the box, and better,” he said in a statement. “We’ve built our brand by creating menu items and experiences that stand apart. We weren’t interested in simply replacing one fountain lineup with another. Partnering with Keurig Dr Pepper allows us to bring that same spirit of innovation to beverages, delivering more variety, more flexibility and ultimately a more memorable visit to Dog Haus.”
Apart from Dr Pepper, RC, 7UP, and Sunkist brands, the lineup will also include Hawaiian Punch and IBC Root Beer, and franchisees also will have access to regional favorites such as Big Red, Squirt, and Sun Drop, as well as Canada Dry beverages.
Dog Haus said the strategy dovetails with the “newstalgia” trend of introducing iconic brands to new customers as well as tugging on the heart strings of older customers.
Premium glass-bottle options of some of the brands, including Dr Pepper, Squirt, 7UP, IBC Root Beer and Big Red, and several of those beverages also will be incorporated into specialty cocktails at the chain’s Dog Haus Biergarten locations.
Restaurants will also feature Tractor’s lemonades, teas, and “refreshers” inspired by aguas frescas. For delivery, customers will have new ready-to-drink options including La Colombe canned coffee and Core Hydration drinks.
Keurig Dr Pepper Chief Customer Officer Jeff Tabor said his company’s approach aligns well with Dog Haus’s.
“Dog Haus and Keurig Dr Pepper share a passion for innovation and delivering memorable guest experiences,” he said in a statement. “The breadth of our portfolio allows Dog Haus to create a beverage strategy that is flexible, locally relevant and built for long-term growth. We’re excited to see the platform continue to evolve.”
Dog Haus said the partnership is part of a broader beverage strategy that will include seasonal offerings, regional rotations, and other innovations.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] Follow him on TikTok and Instagram: @foodwriterdiary
About the Author
Bret Thorn
Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News
Senior Food & Beverage Editor
Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.
Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications.
He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.
From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.
He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN.
A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.
He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.
Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.
He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.
A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends.
Bret Thorn’s Experience:
Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989
Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986
Email: [email protected]
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary
TikTok: @foodwriterdiary
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