News

Australian mobile coffee chain expanding in U.S.

August 28, 2012

A new coffee concept made its debut in Georgia this week when Ginger and Mercedes Romero's Cafe2U mobile espresso van began serving customers in Savannah. The fast casual coffee business delivers gourmet espresso drinks to office parks, construction sites, banks and other business locations where workers can't easily get to a favorite coffee shop, Ginger Romero said in a press release

"I know what it's like to be tied to a desk or a counter that you can't get away from for a lunch break," she said about the business that makes deliveries on fixed weekday routes and at events on nights and weekends.

The Romeros' business is the fourth American franchise for Cafe2U, a fast-growing system in its native Australia and the United Kingdom that's just beginning an aggressive American expansion. Cafe2U USA wants 1,000 of its vans eventually operating in the U.S., said Scott Bundy, president and CEO of Cafe2U USA.

"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," Bundy said about the drinks served from $7,000 espresso machines, $1,000 grinders and other equipment typically found at high-end coffee shops. "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, growing from 12 vans in the Sydney area to more than 200 vans operating throughout Australia, the U.K., the U.S., Germany and New Zealand. Cafe2U USA is headquartered in Bend, Ore.

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