Cafe2U Expands In The US

Hoping to tap into the gourmet food truck trend, Australian coffee company Cafe2U, which sells cups of joe on the go, is opening 1,000 locations in the United States in the next five to 10 years. The company sells lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, and chais from vans.

The first American Cafe2U franchises opened in Clovis, Calif., and Eugene, Ore. The Eugene location is opening a second franchise route and Cafe2U is coming to the streets of Colorado, Georgia, and Texas later this year.

Cafe2U began as 12 mobile espresso vans selling coffee to surfers on Sydney's northern beaches, and soon expanded to bring coffee to industrial areas and office parks where coffee shops were unavailable.

Cafe2U expanded to 200 vans in Australia, the United Kingdom, and now the U.S. The company's mobile espresso vans deliver coffee to customers on a route, Monday through Friday, serving a variety of businesses each day.

Cafe2U won a bronze medal at the 2010 CSR Golden Bean Roasting Competition, where their coffee blend competed against 1,200 entries and outperformed Starbucks. Each Cafe2U van carries a $7,000 espresso machine, a $1,000 grinder, and other high-end coffee shop equipment in an effort to prove it's drinks can compete with brick-and-mortar coffee chains.