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Permalink Reply by Stewart Hime on April 7, 2009 at 12:01pm

I think, couple companies or people operating similar business in Japan.
I have attached a picture. He used a remodeled compact car Mira by Daihatsu motors, made in Japan.
He serves drip coffee, Espresso, and others in Hiroshima. Open 8:00-20:30 for 6 days a week.

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• 1193292059_photo.jpg, 149 KB

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Permalink Reply by chris ganger on April 7, 2009 at 5:01pm

I too have seen a number of these photos. They seem to be a big hit in the european market and I think could do very well here in the states. that little kei car you posted is awesome. japanese city cars rock, too bad we can't import them to the US. good luck finding some info, I would be interested in whatever you find in terms of manufacturers or companies doing conversions. a couple years ago Lamarzocco released a set of vintage coffee prints, one of which hangs in our cafe of an amazing vintage italian coffee cart with a pair of two group lever operated machines. you could probably do something similar with a vintage milk truck and a skilled fabricator. just throwing that out there.

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Permalink Reply by Bel Townsend on April 8, 2009 at 3:45am

Agreed, the Japanese one is fabulous!
I'm in the UK, I have seen a few of these around, and they are adorable. I was planning on doing festivals and events and markets and so on, as well as parking it outside my university (after I caught my supervisor using a Nescafe vending machine outside our office -aaaaargh). They don't go very fast though - it's only a 50cc engine in there, and where I live is full of hills... Likewise, I think that is why there aren't too many in the States, I'd be terrified driving something that small and squashable over there with all your massive cars!
I've found quite a few companies offering the full package - van already converted with espresso machine in the back, and one Piaggio dealership which will convert it for me. However, there is not much choice of what sort of espresso machine goes in the back - they all seem to be Fracino ones, and it runs off a 70litre water tank. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this setup and what it's like doing "mobile espresso". There are a lot of advantages (with practically no overheads, I can undercut other local competition, for one thing) plus you are not tied to a specific place, but I can't imagine making quality coffees with so little space is that easy?!

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Permalink Reply by chris ganger on April 8, 2009 at 6:23pm

I like to tell people any machine any grinder any time. The skill is in the Hands! If it were me I think I wold be looking for a propane run La Pavoni lever machine. they look like they would be ideal for running in a small mobile cart.

A couple of thoughts:

I would be a little concerned that the mobile cafe was set up by a scooter dealer and not a cafe designer. ergonomics can be the difference between a bar that runs smoothly and efficiently, and one that is a total nightmare. How do they handle the electricity requirements? does it run a generator? or does it have a bank of batteries? is there onboard refridgeration? or merely an icechest?

I worked ofr one summer in high school for a lunch truck run by a local university and one thing that we had that turned out to be invaluable was a home base. it is really something to think about. it is kind of unrealistic to think about running a business from such a small space, at the very least you will need space to house some paper goods, and some extra refridgeration would be especially handy as well.

I would avoid the thought that you can undercut competition. the likelyhood would be that as a new business (and a very small guy in the pond) your prices would at least need to be comparable. however I think there is a market niche to fill in terms of convenience, and getting into a market with substandard "coffee" I don't really think of nescafe as coffee, it is more of a coffee flavoured beverage by the way. so I think that if you plan in those terms you will be better off.


good luck, and I am looking forward to what you find out. keep me posted.
chris

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Permalink Reply by Bel Townsend on April 9, 2009 at 3:46am

Thanks Chris, really useful points.
There are a coupleof companies which sell these vans as a cafe business - they are coffee people who just happen to have some knowledge of importing Italian vans, which is handy. my favourites so far are www.thebigcoffee.com but there are others too. I was similarly put off by the thought of buying a coffee machine off a mechanic!!
You can get dual-fuel espresso machines, apparently, which either run off batteries or gas canisters in the back.You can also get generators as well if you need extra power. Regarding refrigeration, I have no idea, I assume its just an icebox since I can't see how there would be enough power to plug in a fridge there too. Hadn't thought of that, so thanks.
As for the home-base, that is a definite. My hubby is resigned to the fact that this will slowly take over our house.... heh. I've got some experience running a small business from home anyway so I can prepare for that side of things!
I live in a traditional market town, and on the markets, the only place to get "coffee" is the burger van... methinks this is a good starting point....

chris ganger said:/body>

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Permalink Reply by chris ganger on April 9, 2009 at 4:20am

cool, sounds as though you might have found your niche. good luck!
chris

Bel Townsend said:

Thanks Chris, really useful points.
There are a coupleof companies which sell these vans as a cafe business - they are coffee people who just happen to have some knowledge of importing Italian vans, which is handy. my favourites so far are www.thebigcoffee.com but there are others too. I was similarly put off by the thought of buying a coffee machine off a mechanic!!
You can get dual-fuel espresso machines, apparently, which either run off batteries or gas canisters in the back.You can also get generators as well if you need extra power. Regarding refrigeration, I have no idea, I assume its just an icebox since I can't see how there would be enough power to plug in a fridge there too. Hadn't thought of that, so thanks.
As for the home-base, that is a definite. My hubby is resigned to the fact that this will slowly take over our house.... heh. I've got some experience running a small business from home anyway so I can prepare for that side of things!
I live in a traditional market town, and on the markets, the only place to get "coffee" is the burger van... methinks this is a good starting point....

chris ganger said:/body>

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