From tuk-tuks to shipping containers, from caravans to old lorries – mobile coffee or coffee-on-the-go is a growing trend in South Africa. We’re quite a few steps behind our European or American compatriots but the caffeine fuelled convenience of grabbing a good quality brew en route to the office, whilst on the school run or even whilst topping up at your local fuel forecourt is not lost on locals.
Somehow there’s something trendy and alluring about imbibing artisanal coffee from a nattily clad mobile vendor, especially at food festivals, music events or markets – and that is where you are most likely to find them in Durban. Chefs and baristas have purchased all manner of interesting vehicles including a Mexican school bus, a Gypsey caravan that looked more fortune teller than coffee vendor and even a former ice cream truck. But no matter how creative or inspiring, many have been returned to used car lots or consigned to backyards.
That’s because, in what used to be the somewhat hippy and cool surf city, the parking spaces are limited and most mobile coffee entrepreneurs soon run into inevitable red tape. Here, trading permits, health checks and other legalities get would-be traders in far more of a froth than the milk that they add to their cappuccinos.
SPILLING THE BEANS
Compared with formal outlets, often in malls, setting up a mobile coffee business is far more affordable for startups or baristas wanting to try their coffee-stained hands at entrepreneurship. This way, it’s a one-off set-up without the costs of renting a space, interior decor, and utility bills.
One would think that a beach front city like Durban which declares that it is not only one of the country’s friendliest but dedicated enterprise development would be going all out to support newcomers. Not really.
That accolade goes to Cape Town where many beachfront strollers can pick up a brew as they stretch their legs along the sea front or even combine this with some yummy street food.
Instead, most of this city’s travelling coffee community have headed for privately owned events or shopping spots. Coffee Minista alongside Stokers in Kloof dispenses great coffee from its converted shipping container alongside the railway line as does Westville’s Café Rose which whips up a caffeine kick on the doorstep of Bluff Meat Supply.
For the most part, these so-called mobile coffee spots are anything but – that accolade goes to the passers-by who are well and truly on the run and happy to grab what the Battle of the Beans (BOB) has now named “Coffee On the Go”.
In essence, people want specialty-quality coffee without going out of their way and BOB created a category for the forward-thinking businesses that are prepared to hand it to them.
ENTER THE HIP HYBRIDS
Even more popular are what are becoming known as the Hip Hybrids – bricks and mortar operations that either dispense caffeinated comforts to hyper consumers not requiring a sit down or even well-established operations that have spread their wings to markets and events by acquiring mobile offshoots – think Crane Flower Coffee in Kloof or Boston Brew.
All that is needed is a coffee addict prepared to trade in a china cup and silver teaspoon for a paper one with a wooden stick and often hard-to-manoeuvre plastic lid.
Some started out on the move and ended up putting down roots – like Gatvol with its funky black kombi and name that resonated with many a stressed customer. Parked up during the Covid pandemic, the kombi’s many mechanical ailments ultimately saw it traded in for a moody spot amongst the tropical gardens of La Lucia.
Lineage, one of KZN’s biggest coffee success stories now serves a large portion of its coffee to loyal customers in carboard cups.
Then there are the mobile coffee outlets that have become community icons – like Primo Grind which is known for easing the nerves of many a frazzled Highway Mom delivering her offspring to the many busses that leave from the Westville swimming pool parking lot or even the busy businessman stopping off during his escape from suburbia.
Wherever we go and whatever we are doing we find coffee machines parked in caravans or mobile homes, baristas serving up from carts whilst building community connections from the unlikeliest locations. They are fast becoming a way of life.
By creating and growing a competition category like Coffee-On-the-Go, we’re delighted to celebrate the evolution of KZN’s coffee culture – even if it is sometimes against the odds. Join us as we encourage the province’s coffee consumers to raise their hands in support of our so-called mobile merchants. They just might be lucky enough to have it filled with a really good brew …
