Cebu coffee shop brand goes mobile

CEBU - The increasing popularity of the coffee-drinking lifestyle among locals pushed a Cebu-grown coffee shop to set up the first branded mobile coffee cart dubbed Expresso. Expresso, a spin-off of Coffee Dream, is meant to elevate the concept of coffee-on-the-go and allows convenience and mobility, which is not inherent among stand-alone coffee shops, said Coffee Dream president and chief executive officer Glenn Anthony Soco. “This is our way of penetrating the Cebu market," he said in an interview during the launching held last Friday at the Cebu International Convention Center. Because of the “easy-to-set-up" nature of Expresso, the mobile cart is ideal for schools, office buildings, convention centers, hospitals and terminals among others. Soco said Expresso is available to potential franchisees, such as overseas Filipino workers and young entrepreneurs who plan on venturing in a business that needs minimal capitalization. An entire Expresso franchise package costs P700,000, complete with the ingredients, equipment and training support for the baristas. Soco estimated a return of investment within approximately six months from its first operations, this, despite the increasingly competitive coffee shop business in Cebu. “There’s no fear in investing on this because the set-up is small. Besides, we are confident of the Coffee Dream brand," he said. Soco said this viable business alternative is the company’s way of supporting the local government’s Countryside Development Program, which encourages more Cebuanos to become entrepreneurs. Investors With the increasing interest of investors toward the mobile coffee cart, Soco said the company will introduce 10 more franchises of Expresso in the next three months. Among the feasible location being eyed is the Toledo port terminal for people traveling to Negros Occidental via Toledo City. Further optimism in the local coffee industry has made Soco plan for 10 to 20 more Expresso outlets in the first quarter of next year. Coffee Dream, a chain of gourmet coffee shops which was introduced by Soco in 1996, now has 27 branches nationwide. In Cebu, Coffee Dream has outlets in Ayala Mall, SM City Cebu, Gorordo Ave., Fuente Osmeña, Mactan-Cebu International Airport and one near Cebu Doctors’ Hospital. - Sun.Star-Cebu