Mocha Mila cafe in Leicestershire certainly has a recipe for success
When we at CaravanTimes hear about quirky caravans, we become – perhaps sadly enough – quite excited. However, when we hear about a quirky caravan thats main purpose in life is to supply an endless supply of coffee, hot chocolate, milkshakes, retro sweets – and even bubblegum syrup for good measure – we get extremely excited and then start salivating. We’re sure we’re not the only ones with a sweet tooth, but we’re also rather sure Mocha Mila is pretty much a café on wheels that’s destined for success.
Mocha Mila is the brainchild of Dawn Vesty, 37 and her husband, Ian, 39 – a couple with more than 17 years of experience in the catering business. And, on the subject of keeping it in the family, the caravan-come-cafè business is named after their adorable daughter Mila, whose name means ‘miracle’ in Hawaiian. And miracle is the right word for what it took to open Mocha Mila for business.
Dawn and Ian made the best of Betsie – the name they affectionately christened their caravan with – following purchasing a rundown, clapped out caravan set for the scrapheap from classified sales site, Gumtree. Once purchased, and having scoured the country looking for everything from scrap metal to wedding dress material, in order to provide the adopted four wheeler with an extreme makeover to their exact specification, Betsie, along with Mocha Mila, was born.
”Ian and I have always wanted to do something on our own, and not just a regular old business,” begins Dawn.
“We wanted to go down a more fun, quirky path and we were discussing ideas for a café or an independent catering business. Franchises seem too clinical, don’t they?”.
And so the idea of sourcing a mobile café was born, not only giving the Vesty’s the freedom to set up and develop their own business model, but also to be able to approach their business from a more mobile perspective, going to where the customers were as opposed to waiting for the custom to come to them.
As with some of the greatest ideas, however, enabling Mocha Mila to thrive as a business wasn’t an easy task; and a restoration plan was put in place to restore Betsie to her former glory.
Taking a look at Betsie, you could be mistaken for thinking that a crack team of professional designers were called in to provide her with a pampering of epic proportions, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
”Ian did all the restorations, right from the paint to building a new Welsh dresser, he did everything. I just did the decorations,” says Dawn modestly. “I found them in all sorts of places including eBay. We’ve actually got a World War II ammunitions box on our desk that still has the original instructions, so you never know what you might find in here,” she laughs.
And so Betsie was born – an Aladdin’s cave of (mostly) edible delights, functioning as a café between 7am – 4pm on weekdays. But that wasn’t enough for the budding entrepreneurs, and Dawn and Ian have since ventured into catering for special events; from attending weddings, to World War II commemorative functions; the business has even featured in bridal publication, Miss to Mrs Magazine.
Dawn, Ian and Betsie don’t plan to stop there though and this year they look set to grow from strength-to-strength owing to the success of Betsie and Mocha Mila, seen by Dawn as a ”build as you go LEGO store”, describing Betsie’s evolution over time alongside their plans for the business.
“It’s nice when you get the whole package and that’s what we want to deliver at Mocha Mila,” smiles Dawn. We’re with you on that one, and we here at CaravanTimes feel as though that’s exactly what is being delivered – along with some bubble gum syrup for good measure.
Make sure you check out Betsie when Mocha Mila rolls up at Asda in Oadby, Leicester, on 29 September. For more details on Mocha Mila click here
