Coffee On Wheels (COWS) Turned an Illinois Mom Into a Mobile Barista

Katlyn Sanden never imagined herself as a barista, and she certainly wasn’t going to marry a farmer or return to her small hometown, but love and coffee intervened, laying the groundwork for Coffee on Wheels.

“I was going to get as far away as I possibly could. I was going to be a city girl. I tried that for a few months, and then fell in love with a farmer from Bureau County,” laughs Katlyn, who now lives with her husband, Brian, on his family’s grain farm near Wyanet. “I never thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom. I was working at a fertilizer company doing their PR, marketing and event planning. I loved what I was doing. I felt like we were making a difference.”

But after welcoming their first daughter, Sanden struggled with the idea of returning to work.

“It never got easier,” she says. “I wanted to contribute financially while being a hands-on mom and not having to go into an office.”

Sanden’s mom had the idea for COWS, or Coffee on Wheels, which eventually opened in 2019.

“Growing up, there was no good coffee at the cattle shows,” Sanden recalls of her days showing cattle at livestock events across the state and region, where it might take an inconvenient drive across town to find coffee.

But quitting her job to start her own business was a big step. Like many farm families, Sanden’s off-farm job provided the family’s health insurance. And she had no business background or training.

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Bean There, Done That

As she began to identify suppliers, she found importance in the farm-to-cup experience.

“People want to know where everything comes from,” she says. “They want to put a face to the farmer.”

Sanden works with roasters in Magnolia and Peoria who purchase organic beans directly from coffee farmers in Guatemala and roast them locally in north-central Illinois.

“We source everything as locally as we can to keep the money within our community,” Sanden says.

While she has not found local organic syrups to use, Sanden uses local honey and focuses on higher quality ingredients. She keeps the COWS trailer within about a 45-mile radius of Wyanet, bringing quality java to surrounding rural communities as well as cattle shows in the area.

“They seem to be more thankful that we’re there because they can’t support a coffee shop,” says Sanden, who has set up at schools, hospitals, festivals, corporate events, county fairs, a few weddings and even a funeral upon request.

Of course, the business depends on the weather, especially when winter roads become icy. But Sanden found an answer for that, too.

“We sell our Lucky Lady 16-ounce retail blend in local grocery stores, so that kind of sustains us through the winter,” she says.

She also sells that product through the Valley Fresh Harvest, an online farmers market. Sanden says operating the trailer provides needed flexibility for her family. And while the balance feels right for now, she does have ideas for the future.

“People keep asking me when I’m going to start roasting,” she says. “You can buy a coffee roaster, or you can buy a house. I’m not prepared to make that investment yet. They’re expensive.”

More attainable goals might include opening a brick-and-mortar shop or franchising. Until then, she cherishes the time to focus on raising her kids while building a business.

“I think it was God’s plan for me to just jump in and trust Him because there is no other way I could do this,” Sanden says. “It’s helping the girls to learn responsibility and chase after their dreams, even if people think it’s crazy.”

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