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We’re regulars every Friday now
We are now 'regulars' on a Friday and are always delighted to see Paul pull up in the driveway and honk his horn!! Service is always delivered with a smile…
Your Route To Success
Be Part Of Our Growing Franchise Network
Since starting in 2010 with a single mobile coffee van, Really Awesome Coffee‘s coffee van franchise network has seen strong growth. Now in our 15th year of successful trading, what we’ve learned over that time has resulted in an ever stronger and more resilient business. We have grown into the UK’s largest mobile coffee van franchise, with over 100 vans operating in their own assigned territories throughout the country.
Overall, we attribute this success to our proven franchise system and our extensive training and launch program, but we cannot ignore the massive growth seen in the UK within the coffee retail market.
Grab Your Slice Of A Booming Market
The coffee market is currently one of the most lucrative industries to be part of. Project Café 2025 UK, the definitive report from Allegra World Coffee Portal, saw coffee market sales rocket in the UK making it one of the UK’s strongest performing sectors with no signs of ending.
- The £10.7bn UK coffee shop market value grew by 6.4% in 2024*1
- This growth rate is expected to continue, with the market anticipated to be worth £14.46bn by 2030*2
- Industry leaders remain optimistic despite Brexit concerns*3
- The future coffee shop marketplace will be shaped by increased consumer participation and the desire for premium quality coffee anywhere, anytime*3
Whilst the coffee shop revolution is clearly visible, the mobile café market remains accessible and fresh, it offers our franchise partners a fantastic opportunity to follow this demand by taking the traditional high street coffee shop direct to the customers, wherever they are!
The Really Awesome Coffee tried and tested business model has made us the UK’s largest mobile coffee van franchise.
“Through our years of experience in the mobile coffee business, we provide entrepreneurs with the information, skills and support necessary to build a profitable mobile coffee franchise in the rapidly expanding UK coffee sector” Kevin Haswell, founder and Managing Director.
*1 Source: Allegra World Coffee Portal, At a Glance: The UK Independent Coffee Shop Market and At A Glance: The UK Branded Coffee Shop Market
*2 Source: Grand View Research UK Coffee Market Size & Outlook, 2023-2030
*3 Source: UK Coffee Leaders Summit Yet More Growth in UK Coffee Shop Market as Coffee Shop Becomes the New Local
Drive At Your Own Speed
Choose The Lifestyle You Want
We have mobile café franchise partners operating franchised coffee vans in their own assigned territories across the UK, each with very different aspirations, goals and approaches to how hard they want to work.
Some franchisees start trading at 7am, and others don’t get started until after 9am. Some finish at 2pm, and others after 5pm. Some want to work hard to maximise profitability, whilst others want to operate at a more relaxing pace – each franchisee chooses their own specific goals that they want to achieve, and we base a business plan around these unique requirements.
Most of our franchisees enjoy the lifestyle of working the vans themselves, whilst others have chosen a management franchise model and run multiple vans. Each of our carefully selected franchise territories has local business statistics proving that they can easily support more than one van.
There are many reasons people decide to set up their own business, having control of your own working life and directly reaping the rewards of your own efforts are often near the top of this list. Escaping the stresses and confines of the typical 9-5 routine and taking more enjoyment from the working day are reasons also mentioned by most of our franchise partners.
Owning a Really Awesome Coffee franchise gives you the opportunity to fit your business around your lifestyle, working Monday to Friday delivering fresh coffees & hot drinks, hot & chilled food items, confectionery, chilled drinks and snacks to local businesses in a sociable, stress-free environment, with the option of boosting profits from weekend events and corporate/private bookings.
How Do I Get Started?
Financing Your New Business
We understand that buying a franchise is an investment in yourself and your family’s future. By joining a franchise you are eliminating much of the risk as we have a proven model that works and the figures as evidence.
Raising the capital can be a challenge on your own which is why we are on hand to assist you in all aspects of the financial process. We have built strong relationships with a number of finance companies who are familiar with our franchise system and are extremely keen to help new franchise partners fund their Really Awesome Coffee businesses (subject to the usual checks) which they see as a safe investment.
How Much Do I Need To Invest?
You can be on the road and running your mobile café business from just under £10,000. This is the lowest initial investment level you need to contribute and includes the deposit on your Mercedes coffee van as well as our comprehensive Fast-Track Training & Launch Program, the Trading Starter Kit valued at over £5,500, and some initial working capital.
If you have more capital to invest this will of course reduce your monthly finance payments over the initial franchise term.
How Much Is The Franchise?
Our competitive franchise package is £22,950+VAT meaning you are now part of the Really Awesome Coffee family, fully supported by a team of professionals in business management, sales and marketing. You will instantly profit from our brand awareness and intellectual property and be confident that your business has the best possible chance of success and will be a business you could either sell or pass to your children in the future.
Our ongoing Management Services Fees are refreshingly low when compared to other coffee-related mobile franchises at a fixed cost of just under £85 per week which is typically covered by the first few coffee sales of the day.
As a network partner you will benefit from huge franchisee discounts on our exceptional #1 Brand coffee and because of Really Awesome Coffees ‘buying power’ you will enjoy reduced prices from our suppliers on consumables items also with our unique coffee van you should save over £2,500 per year in fuel.
All these factors added together leads to annual profits that are thousands of pounds higher than with other mobile coffee networks.
We find your Customers
Opening Doors For You
Our franchisee training and business launch program is based on years of success within the mobile coffee industry and has been designed not only to make sure you have the tools and knowledge to run a successful mobile café business, but also to get you off to the fastest possible start and making money as quickly as possible.
Comprehensive Training
The training portion of the program is spent at our headquarters in Coalville, Leicestershire.
The first week concentrates on how to research and develop your daily coffee route. Your Franchise Development Manager will help find customers for you and build your round. You will also receive professional barista training at our in-house training centre to make sure you are fully prepared to impress your new customers. This will be followed by some supervised home preparation under the guidance of our Franchise Development Manager which includes; approving local suppliers as well as attending exploration days with one or more of our existing franchise partners.
“The initial training was very thorough, covering all aspects of setting up a successful business. From the professional barista training, through route research and planning and administration tasks with HMRC and health and safety training, it was everything you need to launch and sustain a strong business”
Ian Turp / R.A.Coffee Hemel Hempstead
The final training week will be focused on building your practical and business skills. We will cover all aspects of managing and growing your mobile coffee business by providing comprehensive training in marketing & social media, bookkeeping, IT systems & software, HACCP, Health & Safety, Safe Food Handling and more. You will also undertake advanced barista training as we start applying your new skills to real life scenarios.
Your Business Launch
Your customers are the most important asset you have and through years of experience we know not only how to find good customers but also how to keep them. During the business launch section of the program you will accompany and learn from your own Franchise Development Manager as they make the initial contact with your potential customers and build your daily coffee route.
At the end of the launch process you will have a working and profitable daily coffee round and a personalised business development plan that lays out the steps for you to take to continue to grow and develop your mobile coffee business.
Ongoing Support and Regular Reviews
After your franchise launch we will carry out regular scheduled reviews with you to make sure you are getting the best from your new business. By analysing the data from our touch screen EPoS software in conjunction with your online route planning map we are able to identify areas of your business in which you can make positive changes and improvements. We can then advise you on the best ways to implement these changes by strategically setting goals and targets.
Your Franchise Development Manager is of course never more than a phone call or email away and are on hand 7 days a week to answer your questions and provide support and guidance. As part of the franchise network you will benefit from the experience and knowledge of our existing franchise partners who are always willing to share ideas to help your business grow via the interactive franchise partner discussion forum.
Making Business Easy
One-stop Shop
We have made the day-to-day operation of your business as simple and straightforward as possible, we are aware that your time is spent better serving your customers.
Ordering supplies could not be easier through Head Office by email or phone and deliveries are almost always next day! As a franchisee you receive a massive 30% discount on our exceptional #1 Blend coffee and branded products such as uniforms, cups and stationery are kept low cost. Other suppliers for food and syrups for example offer us huge savings due to our buying power, all of this discount is passed on to our franchisees.
Everything bought from Head Office go on to your franchisee account which is billed at the end of the month, in arrears. This affords you the peace of mind that you have credit in place when ordering. There is a bookkeeping and annual accounts preparation & filing scheme in place for our franchise partners. It is not obligatory (you may use another accountant), however most of our franchise partners take advantage of the preferential rates and structured scheme offered by our accountants.
UK's Premier Coffee Van
The Most Advanced Coffee Vans In The UK
At Really Awesome Coffee we operate from top spec Mercedes Vitos which we have converted into the highest quality and specification coffee vans available. We are able to access some of the best rates with our Mercedes fleet terms and financing options can also include the cost of the conversion.
With years of experience both building and operating mobile café vans our conversions are a refined product designed with the barista & driver in mind. We include a number of distinctive time and money saving features including our unique power system, solid rear awning, frost protection system and touch screen EPoS till.
Solid Rear Awning
Durable and quick & easy to use with 1.5 metre extension
Our bespoke solid rear awning can be extended up to 1.5m from the rear of the coffee van, providing shade during the summer months and in the rain it provides crucial protection for you, the equipment and your customers.
Lightweight and Durable
The awning is of entirely aluminium construction and as such is extremely light and comfortably copes with strong winds and heavy rain – never miss a days trade due to British weather!
Quick and Easy to Use
Designed for efficiency and speed of use the solid rear awning is simply pulled out and pushed back in to it’s housing, taking literally a couple of seconds to safely extend and shut away.
This speed of use was one of our main considerations during the design of the awning – taking only 1 minute to erect / open and close an awning at each coffee stop (30 seconds to erect and 30 seconds to pack away) would lose our franchise partners considerable income by making them over half an hour late for their lunchtime stops every time the weather is bad.
Keeps Customers Dry
Our awnings extend 1.5 metres from the back of the vehicle, so as providing cover for the barista they also keep your customers dry. In the heat of the summer the awning also provides handy shade improving the barista experience.
Unique Power System
Save Money & Maximise Storage Space
Traditionally mobile coffee installations could be either powered by a large diesel generator of could use propane cylinders to heat the espresso machine boiler, each method having benefits and also significant drawbacks.
The Best of Both Worlds
Our unique power system maintains all the positive aspects of both generator based and LPG cylinder based conversions without suffering any of the negative aspects of either system.
Our system of batteries, chargers and inverters stores enough power for a full day of silent trading with a 2-door pie heater and large 3-door display fridge running as well as the espresso machine and grinder.
What’s even better is that the batteries charge whilst you are driving between coffee stops (and when the vehicle engine is idling), enabling unlimited trading without the requirement for an external power source.
Frost Protection System
Protect Your Investment During the Winter Months
Temperatures in winter regularly dip beneath freezing, and after experiencing damage to an espresso machine in one of our own mobile coffee vans a number of years ago we developed a convenient solution to prevent this happening again.
Our van frost protection is a thermostatically controlled system that controls low energy heaters fixed strategically within the vehicle to prevent frost damage to the espresso machine and associated waterworks.
The Alternative
The generally accepted method of protecting espresso machines and plumbing in catering vehicles is to cover the machine with a duvet and clad the pipes as best as possible. Not particularly effective and also not ideal with regard food hygiene.
High-Tech Solar Power
All of our vans feature a solar panel fitted to the top of the rear awning.
On-demand Coffee Grinder
All vans feature an on-demand grinder ensuring the freshest coffee with a straight from bean-to-cup process.
Preserving flavour for you and your customers
Oxygen is the enemy of roasted (especially ground) coffee. Just as iron rusts and an apple turns brown within minutes of slicing, oxygen reacts with roasted coffee causing it to go stale and lose the intense and complex and flavours present in the freshly roasted product. As such all bags of our roasted whole beans and pre-ground coffee are nitrogen-flushed to reduce oxygen content to typically less than 0.5%, preserving that ‘just roasted’ freshness so that you experience our coffee in exactly the same way we do. Read more about our #1 Blend coffee on our homepage.
Touch-Screen Till & RAPoS
Our fixed touch screen till system allows you to quickly and easily take sales, the speed in which you can operate is key to profits. RAPoS (Really Awesome Point-of-Sale) software records vital pieces of information that will ultimately lead to the success of your business. To increase profitability you need real-time statistics including the time spent at each site, the profit per minute made and the time spent driving between each coffee stop. It is also produces accurate records for your accountants and HMRC. Not all items sold on coffee vans are subject to VAT.
Is RACoffee For You?
We will provide you with the tools and knowledge to run a profitable business and get you off to a great start. We will provide you with structured ongoing support to help you develop your skills and strengthen your business, however we’re not your ‘boss’ and cannot force you to get up in the morning and run your business.
If you don’t feel like sitting in an office all day, believe it’s time for a lifestyle change and think you have what it takes to take control and be your own boss then this could be the right business choice for you and we’d love for you to get in touch.
Next Steps
Call Us
Whether you have just started to consider running a business or have already decided mobile coffee is for you, we are happy to have a chat about your plans and explain our business opportunity.
Attend One Of Our Discovery Presentations
Book a spot on our next Virtual Discovery Presentation or arrange a one-on-one discovery meeting. You will learn more about the opportunity and have the opportunity to ask more questions.
BOOK A FRANCHISE DISCOVERY PRESENTATION >