EUGENE, OR - Serena and Steve Liu's Cafe2U mobile espresso van has been serving customers in Eugene since February, delivering gourmet espresso drinks to office parks, construction sites, banks and other business locations where workers can't easily get to a favorite coffee shop.

The Lius have exceeded their sales projections, and the market in Eugene has responded so well that the Lius are adding a second van. Cafe2U is a fast-growing franchise system in its native Australia and the United Kingdom that's just beginning an aggressive American expansion. Cafe2U eventually wants 1,000 of its vans operating in the United States.

"The trick is finding the little niche €" smaller businesses that don't have an espresso machine, that are too far away from a coffee shop and with workers who are tired of the horrible drip coffee," Serena Liu said. "We have several clients like that, and they are practically beating down the door to get to us when we arrive."

Cafe2U is a gourmet coffee shop on wheels. The espresso vans have real espresso machines and baristas. The vans build customer bases by following weekday routes and arriving at the same stops at the same time each day. "Everybody loves really good coffee, but not everybody has a coffee shop near their home or their office," said Scott Bundy, president and CEO for Cafe2U USA.

Cafe2U was founded in Sydney in 2000 and began franchising five years later, quickly growing from 12 vans in the Sydney area to more than 200 vans operating throughout Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company's coffee won a medal at the 2010 CSR Golden Bean Roasting Competition, where it competed against more than 1,200 blends. Cafe2U USA is headquartered in Bend, OR.