After years of operating as a pop-up, Sodo Café, purveyor of craft sourdough donuts, was ready for its next phase.
The business had built a loyal customer base and proven demand for its sourdough donuts and confections. Still, it was eager to settle into an up-and-coming neighborhood and establish roots in a local community.
Founder Elle Cowan envisioned herself opening a storefront location, but the reality of her vision would amount to a major financial risk, with most spaces requiring major buildouts costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I looked into storefronts, and to restart an entire space and build the kitchen would be a minimum of $500,000 in a shell space, and that’s just a lot of money to invest into something that I don’t know may or may not work,” Cowan said.
Cowan needed a smarter path forward. A path that would let her expand her offerings, increase her revenue, without the burden of a costly permanent buildout. Part of the solution came from a relationship she had built with a local wine-tasting room. With most of its customers coming in for late-afternoon tastings, they had space to offer, but only one electrical outlet and no nearby kitchen.
The Solution: A Monsam Custom Mobile Food & Beverage Cart Built Around Workflow
Cowen partnered with Monsam to create a custom mobile coffee cart designed to address the realities of her situation and built to fit the business’s exact workflow. The final design included space for two coffee grinders, a puck press, a commercial espresso machine, a hot-water handwashing sink, and a cup rinser.
The layout was intentional. Dry coffee grounds and equipment were kept on one side, while wet tasks, milk, handwashing, and rinsing were grouped on the other. That helped create a cleaner, more efficient workflow. While the process was important, Cowen says hot and cold running water was a game-changer.
“I’m pretty big on sanitation, and I like being able to wash my hands, especially with hot water, “ explained Cownen. “I use gloves constantly, just because of the nature of what I do, and I change them out. But yeah, really having an actual hot water sink was huge for me. And then also just being able to have a fresh water source for the espresso machine.”
Why Mobility Mattered for Operational Efficiency
The cart’s mobility was central to the business model.
Sodo Café operates within a shared community-oriented space, where flexibility is essential. The setup can be moved across the room, shifted into another building, or potentially used for outdoor events, street fairs, and future activations.
For Sodo Café, the cart created a bridge between pop-up and brick-and-mortar: a flexible, professional setup that allowed the business to grow while still preserving optionality.
“The whole point of doing something like this is so that we could move things around, and it’s very modular,” Cowan said. “The sink and the cart can move with us.”
Recipe for Success: Adding Coffee, Increasing Revenue, and Building Community
The custom coffee cart from Monsam allowed Cowen to expand beyond donuts and add a full drink menu, including espresso-based beverages.
She says it changed the economics of the business. Coffee and other drinks increased the average ticket size, gave customers more reasons to visit, and allowed the cafe to continue serving guests even after donuts sold out.
“If I just sold donuts, it’s not enough money to allow me to grow,” Cowan said. “To add drinks to the ticket and also just provide a service was huge.”
Cowen says these days, it’s not uncommon for them to sell out of donuts but still have a line for coffee.
