Entrepreneurs Ginger and Mercedes Romero launched a Cafe2U mobile espresso van in Savannah, Ga., delivering gourmet espresso drinks to office parks, construction sites, banks and other business locations where workers can't easily get to a favorite coffee shop.
The Romeros' business is just the fourth American franchise for Cafe2U, a fast-growing system in its native Australia and the United Kingdom that's beginning an aggressive American expansion. Cafe2U USA wants 1,000 of its vans eventually operating in the U.S.; entrepreneurs can learn more at www.Cafe2UFranchise.com.
Cafe2U mobile espresso vans deliver coffee to business customers on fixed weekday routes and at events on nights and weekends.
Each Cafe2U van carries a $7,000 espresso machine, a $1,000 grinder and other equipment typically found at high-end coffee shops.
"Customers can be skeptical the first time they hear about getting coffee from a van, but then they see the equipment that we use and they taste our latté, cappuccino, mocha or chai," said Scott Bundy, president and CEO of Cafe2U USA. "It doesn't take more than a sip to turn a lot of people into regulars."
Cafe2U was founded in Sydney in 2000 and began franchising five years later, quickly growing from 12 vans in the Sydney area to more than 200 vans operating throughout Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and New Zealand. Cafe2U USA is headquartered in Bend, Ore.
