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From the shop

How to start a coffee cart business

What you need to start a coffee cart business, and which RidgeCraft cart fits. From a cart shop in Yorba Linda, California.

First

What you are starting

A cart, a way to make coffee, and permission from whoever owns the ground you stand on. In most California cities the health department has a say too.

We build the cart. We do not issue permits. Call your county environmental health office before you spend money on a layout they will reject.

A birch cart on the shop floor mid-build, the cabinet open with the plumbing run inside

What it takes

The four pieces

  • The cart.

    Holds a machine, a grinder and water, and survives the third event. That's what we make.

  • The permit.

    County health, sometimes the city. An approved sink is usually the hold-up, not the wood. See how permitting works.

  • The plumbing.

    Fresh water, a pump, a sink, a grey tank. See how we plumb a cart.

  • How you get paid.

    Square or a similar reader is enough to start. The cart does not care.

Not legal advice or a permit checklist. Costs vary by city. Call the county, then call us.

Pick one

Which RidgeCraft cart

We make the cart. Your county writes the rest of the rules.

Buy now Start a build