Australian born Cafe2U has celebrated its tenth anniversary by becoming the world's biggest mobile coffee franchise. 

Cafe2U began as a humble van operation on Sydney’s North Shore a decade ago. It now has 100 Australian franchises and another 50 in Britain and Northern Ireland.

Founder Andy Simpkin says the company is preparing for imminent expansion into the United States and New Zealand. The brand is also set to launch in the Middle Eastern and Asian markets during 2010. 

Simpkin said Australian coffee drinkers had changed in 10 years and to survive Cafe2U had to evolve alongside them.

"Ten years ago customers were much less discerning and much less knowledgeable. Customers now pay for a “good” cup of coffee and are much less forgiving of a bad cup. They also ask about where the actual coffee comes from and who the roaster is –customers now know which roasters they favour, or don’t," he said.

With a current turnover of $20 million the franchise has experienced growth at around 40 per cent each of the past four years.

Simpkin named the mobile aspect of his franchise model and Australia’s ever-growing obsession with coffee as two reasons for the success.

“During the global financial crisis shop fronts felt the effects of the global crunch but we continued to experience growth,” he said.

“We rolled through it because mobile businesses were seen by investors as an alternative to renting a space in a quiet shopping mall. You are going to the customer, not the other way around, which means that when or if businesses close you simply have to fill the slot by driving to new customers.

“There is also limited competition; you are not competing for the same dollar as you do in a mall. In addition, compared to fixed locations mobile operations such as ours are a low investment model which offers a high return.”

Source: Cafe2U