Cafe2U has become the biggest mobile coffee franchise in the world with more than 100 franchises and soon to launch in the US and South Africa. The booming business makes 4.5 million cups of coffee on average a year, with figures set to continue to increase with growth overseas.
So what is the success behind Caf2U? General manager of operations, Derek Black, puts it down to the ‘warming up’ of new territories to generate business before any franchisee takes it on, so they can then hit the ground running from day one.
“It means that the franchisee will have the ground work done for them, where it would normally take up to three months of building up the business. Our new Market Entry Strategy really stacks up the benefits for franchisees. They are getting full training, brand marketing and publicity, a fully branded and well equipped vehicle and a ‘warm’ territory with a guaranteed turn-over of $500 per day for their business. At $125 000 + GST per territory, it should allow franchisees to get their investment back within a year of trading,” says Black.
Caf2U does not just provide ‘nine to fivers’ with their morning caffeine hit, but also attends sports matches and events. Founder Andy Simpkin said, “Our mission is to take great quality espresso based beverages to non-traditional locations. So we end up going to office buildings, sporting events, corporate functions, school fetes, basically anywhere where a more traditional solution is not available.”
Simpkin began the business on the northern shores of Sydney back in 2004 with just one van. He has since expanded across NSW, Melbourne, Victoria, Queensland, Central Coast and ACT, with his focus now on Perth and South Australia. It was a chance meeting three years ago with British expat Tom Ackland that sparked the growth to the other side of the world, now boasting 46 franchises across the UK to boot.