“We’ve been building custom coffee vans for so long we know what works.”
With a combined half a century of experience between them, Mobile Cafés Australia directors Jonathan Payne and Darren Schultz are Australia’s leading full service custom coffee van business duo. We sat down to talk about the opportunities and design of vans.
The first thing you notice about Jonathan Payne and Darren Schultz, co-directors of Mobile Cafés Australia, is their shared passion for coffee.
Before they started their own franchise network Xpresso back in 2014, they’d already had a long and storied history with coffee. Darren had already spent over a decade perfecting custom coffee vans as an independent operator and innovator, trying to achieve the perfect blend between vehicle, machinery and power supply.
The custom coffee van opportunity
Now, with the twin explosion in the popularity of coffee and mobile cafés in Australia, getting fitted out with a custom-built coffee van that can reliably and consistently deliver Barista-made coffee a few hours into the morning shift at business parks and industrial sites spells opportunity.
With their extensive franchising and innovation experience, the duo’s new venture Mobile Cafés Australia promises to boost the small business fortunes of budding coffee-preneurs across the country.
Mobile Cafés Australia is a full-service business that builds custom coffee vans and supports independent operators through every step of the journey from the build through to pouring their first coffee and beyond.
Jonathan says that it is not always obvious what questions to ask and now the pair are offering support to independent operators or opening up their franchise network to new partners.
“I will take the client on a journey as to what they see themselves selling. Where do they want to serve the customer? Do they want to serve the customer from inside the van or at the rear of the van? We try to really work through suitability,” Jonathan explains.
“Most of the time, the customer doesn’t know what they want,” he says.
The pair can also help with the business model. “Do they want to be a part of a franchise network and take advantage of the full support that comes with a turn key operation? Or perhaps they just need some help with marketing and supply as an independent operator,” Jonathan says.
Getting coffee van experience on your side
When it comes to building the van, it is a reasonable assumption that Darren and Jonathan have more combined experience than any other pair in the industry.
“We’ve been doing this for so long, we know what works,” Darren says matter-of-factly.
They have been through plenty of trial and error and tinkering to come up with the ideal van. And while the design only limited by imagination and budget, Darren says that he’s been around long enough to guide sensible decisions that will achieve a beautiful van with the functionality to keep it on the road.
“Technically, you can have anything you want,” Jonathan chimes in with a big caveat.
“We have been doing this for years, so we can guide you in the right direction about the kinds of fridges and freezers, coffee machines, and other pieces of equipment are optimal, not just from a quality perspective, but for keeping everything running,” he says.
And it’s the keeping the van running that the two are passionate about. After all, a great coffee van business is built on the reliability of showing up. In fact, when it comes to coffee and coffee vans, they firmly believe that successful businesses are built on, Jonathan says, “becoming a part of people’s daily lives.”
Since Darren fitted out his first coffee van nearly a quarter of a century ago, he has worked out what works – and what doesn’t. “The process that we have gone through to get it right means that we have been through so many variances since my first van that we are confident that it will not fail,” Darren explains.
“We just know that there is a very delicate balance that needs to be achieved between the coffee machine, battery systems and gas systems to reduce noise and emissions,” he says.
“There are probably not too many people combined that have been through the 25 or 30 models that we’ve had to iterate to come up with a great product,” Darren says. “We’ve done the trial and error and there is a lot there to consider.”
The custom Combi coffee van is coming
One of the most exciting developments of Mobile Cafes Australia is the next step in the industry – a combi coffee van.
“We are really excited about this,” Jonathan says. “We are setting up a new product which features the mould of a combi and you serve customers from inside of it. It can be a pop top roof and you can choose a colour from the era and an affordable franchise.”
Darren says that the new combi coffee van is a nice compromise between fully mobile and traditional bricks and mortar by bringing a semi-permanent way to serve coffee to a permanent space.
“With the custom combi coffee van, you can still get some reasonable rent in the middle of a mall. Perhaps put a white picket fence around it with a few stools,” he says.
To learn more about how you can take advantage of the trends to mobile cafés in Australia, contact Darren Schultz or Jonathan Payne.