Bad Saulgau woman runs coffee bar on wheels

Bad Saulgau/sz. From the office chair to the bicycle saddle: Doris Gebhart from Bad Saulgau is the owner of a mobile coffee bike, a rolling coffee bar with a cargo bike. At the end of November, the 49-year-old dared to take the step into self-employment. "This has always been my dream," she says.

The coffee bar on wheels has a footprint of three square metres, a weight of 450 kilograms and yet can be conveniently operated in any location. "The advantage is that I can transport and move the Coffee Bike on my own," says Doris Gehbart, who uses an electric winch to load and unload the bike into a trailer. Gebhart had learned how to drive correctly and safely at a training course in Osnabrück, where the franchise company is based. There Gebhart received the instructions for the various coffee specialities that she prepares herself and sells to customers.

Previously worked in the clinic

Doris Gebhart has already had her first assignments - at a company party in Heiligkreuztal and at the wedding fair "Ewig Dein" in Ravensburg. At her coffee bar, various coffee specialities were prepared, beans were freshly ground and milk was frothed, according to the customers' taste. "In Ravensburg, I sold espresso, cappuccino, latte macciato or even hot chocolate with marchmellos." Customers can watch her do it and literally smell the aroma of the freshly roasted beans. Gebhart uses only organic beans and milk from regional farms and sells her coffee specialities in 100 per cent degradable paper cups. "The feedback at both events was just great."

Doris Gebhart also appreciates the contact with customers. "I always totally look forward to communicating with people." Before she decided to take the step, she worked as an administrative assistant in a clinic.

Longing is great

But the yearning for something new, something out of the ordinary, grew. And so Gebhart seized the opportunity to fulfil her dream of something independent that also gives her a lot of pleasure with the rolling coffee bar. But Gehbart does not take full risks. She is taking a sabbatical year, after which she could return to her old job.

But Doris Gebhart is not thinking about that at the moment. Not even for a second. Instead, she wants to "spoil people in the most unusual places with coffee specialities that are outstanding in taste". She also wants to position herself in Bad Saulgau with her coffee bike. "I'm thinking mainly of grocers' markets, open Sundays and the Happy Family Day," says Doris Gebhart, who doesn't want to wait that long and is looking forward to other events such as company celebrations, weddings or birthdays.