Is Swig Mormon Owned?
Founded in Utah, shaped by Mormon soda culture, and now majority-owned by the Utah-based Larry H. Miller Company.
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No. Swig is not owned by the Mormon Church, or by any religious organization.
The confusion is understandable, because the Mormon connection is real, but it is cultural, not corporate. Swig was founded by Nicole Tanner, who is Mormon, in St. George, Utah, in 2010.
She started it for a simple reason: coffee was never an option for her, and she wanted a drink that was more fun than ordinary fountain soda.
Her first shop was a 700-square-foot drive-thru across from the local university, and drinks cost a dollar for the first few months to get people to try them.
Today Swig is majority-owned by the Larry H. Miller Company, a Utah family business that bought a majority stake from Savory Fund in November 2022.
When the deal was announced, Savory Fund, founder Nicole Tanner, and partners Chase Wardrop and Dylan Roeder each kept a minority stake. Those are the stakes as announced in 2022.
Learn more about who founded Swig and where it started.
Why Everyone Asks
Utah is the heart of dirty soda country, and that is no accident.
Surveys put the share of Utah residents who identify as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at roughly 42 to 50 percent, and members traditionally avoid alcohol and coffee.
With those drinks off the table, soda became the thing people gather around, and the drive-thru soda shop became Utah’s version of the coffee shop. National media picked up on it and started calling Swig “the Mormon Starbucks.”
Swig leaned into its role as the pioneer of the category early on, trademarking the term “dirty soda” in 2013.
The Bottom Line
Swig was founded by a Mormon entrepreneur, grew out of Utah’s Mormon soda culture, and is now majority-owned by the Utah-based Larry H. Miller Company. It is not owned by the Mormon Church.
If you want the full story of how that culture started, read our guide to dirty soda and Mormon soda culture.
You can also explore Swig’s franchising and expansion and browse Swig’s Utah locations.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal; Franchise Times; QSR Magazine; Wikipedia (Swig restaurant, accessed Oct 2026); Larry H. Miller Company announcement (Nov. 22, 2022); KSL; Utah Business; Pew Research Center, via Deseret News (Feb.
2025); Salt Lake Tribune (Dec. 2023).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Swig owned by the Mormon Church?
No. Swig is not owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any religious organization. It is majority-owned by the Larry H. Miller Company, a Utah family business.
When the 2022 deal was announced, Savory Fund, founder Nicole Tanner, and partners Chase Wardrop and Dylan Roeder kept minority stakes.
Who founded Swig?
Nicole Tanner founded Swig in St. George, Utah, in 2010. She is Mormon, which is part of why the brand is so closely tied to Utah soda culture.
Who owns Swig now?
The Larry H. Miller Company has held a majority stake since November 2022. Savory Fund, Nicole Tanner, Chase Wardrop, and Dylan Roeder kept minority stakes at that time.
Why is Swig called the Mormon Starbucks?
It is a media nickname, not an official title. It caught on because Swig grew out of Utah, where many Latter-day Saints avoid coffee and alcohol, making drive-thru soda shops the local equivalent of coffee shops.
Is dirty soda a Mormon invention?
Dirty soda, which is soda mixed with flavored syrup and cream, took off in Utah’s heavily Mormon communities, and Swig (founded 2010) pioneered it as a business and trademarked the term in 2013.
The drink style itself grew out of that culture rather than being invented by the church.
Last updated: November 2, 2026