Thirst for concept leads to expansion

By Hamish Heard
A new drive-through coffee and juice business in Geelong is set to expand.
The owners of Bean Squeeze said customers’ appetite for their wares was so strong they planned to open three more drive-throughs.
Co-owner Doji Singer said the thriving performance of the flagship Mercer Street store since its April opening had convinced him and business partner Andrew Pec that the concept was a goer in Geelong.
Mr Singer said Geelong was an ideal test market for his business, which he aimed to eventually franchise throughout Australia.
“We never intended to actually make money out of this first store,” Mr Singer said.
“It was more about building some good brand awareness as well as perfecting our systems so we can roll it out on a larger scale.”
The young entrepreneurs had been fending off offers from investors seeking a slice of the business in exchange for capital to fund its expansion.
“We’re not looking at that method of expansion because we’ve got sufficient backing to do it without outside investment,” said Mr Singer, whose father, Brian, was a founding partner of surf company Rip Curl.
Potential Bean Squeeze franchisees had already approached Mr Singer and Mr Pec about opening new stores.
They rejected the offers to allow the business time to develop and to prepare a manual for franchisees.
“To be able to really sell a franchise you need to have proof that the model works and the best way to do that is to successfully operate a chain of your own stores,” Mr Singer said
The pair were on the lookout for three vacant drive-through sites around Geelong with high traffic exposure.
“It’s hard to find the exact type of property a business like this requires but we’ll just keep looking,” Mr Singer said.
He reported a thriving trade at the Mercer St store, Australia’s first drive-through coffee and freshly-squeezed juice outlet.
“It starts off at 6.30am with the tradies and then there’s a real rush around 8.30am with people who work in central Geelong calling in on their way to work,” he said.
“People who are in a bit of a hurry love it because it only takes about 30 seconds to grab a coffee and they don’t have to fight for a park or anything like that.”