How Annees grew from a tiny market stall to a thriving Vietnamese iced coffee business

When Annie Nguyen arrived in Cairns in 2014, she wanted to try something different from the finance career she'd been building in Southern California.

Struggling to find work as a barista, she was struck by similarities between Far North Queensland and Vietnam, where she was born. "I thought that being out here in Cairns in the tropics, it was a similar environment to Vietnam, where you can have an iced coffee."

Inspired by this realisation and Australia's strong café culture, she set about introducing traditional Vietnamese iced coffee, made with Robusta beans and condensed milk, to Cairns, securing a table at the iconic Rusty's Markets for just $30.

"It looked like a little lemonade stand," she says of the stall she named Annee's Caphê Sua Da. "I ordered some coffee and made it at home, put it in a pitcher and started giving samples out.

"People were saying, 'Oh my gosh, why cold coffee? Why Robusta beans? Why condensed milk?' But it was a great opportunity for me to educate the community on what Vietnamese coffee is and I got to meet a lot of people, which was the fun bit."

From market stall to multi-location brand

Annie soon won over the locals, upgrading to a larger cart and then to a "little hole-in-the-wall shop" within eight months. In 2017, she relocated again to a kiosk at the front of the market.

"I had guests just clambering on top of each other," she says. "I thought, 'Wow, they're not just here for coffee – clearly we're doing something pretty amazing.'"

With a desire to continue growing and some encouragement from customers, Annie opened a second shop in Townsville in 2019. Today, the business – known simply as Annees – has eight locations along Queensland's east coast, from Cairns to Rockhampton.

"I saw that my business was operationally scalable," she says. "There was a bit of a learning curve where we needed to establish ourselves as a brand before opening but as soon as people try the product, they're immediately hooked."

Consistency and connection

Throughout this growth, Annie says they've stayed true to their core. "We've kept our menu very simple. We want to do one thing and do it really well – that's a Robusta bean drip coffee, shaken with condensed milk."

They've also introduced a "Sip Series" – a twist on their traditional Vietnamese iced coffee, with limited edition flavours like pistachio, cookies and cream, and Biscoff.

Annie attributes the business's success not only to the products but to the experience they offer customers. "I really believe we're not here only to serve coffee but to really build a connection with our guests," she says. "They come back because they feel valued, seen and uplifted by our team members."

She says instilling that culture starts with leading by example. "I need to remain consistent... it starts from me and then my team will have that ripple effect down to the shop."

Managing a growing business

Although she now spends most of her time in the head office with her management team, Annie still works in-store every few months. "That's a happy place for me," she says.

One of the challenges she's faced in scaling the business has been letting go of perfectionism. "I was always thinking, 'It has to be perfect – I need to perfect this and that before we do more.'"

Annie and her team have also had to navigate funding as the business has grown. "I've been lucky to have bootstrapped the business from the beginning but over time I've had great support from CommBank who really sees my business and have seen the journey," she says.

Her advice for others looking to start or grow their own business is to take the first step and get clear on their "why". "I used to think it took a lot of money to start a business, but it's really about getting out there and getting started. And you may not know it at first, but if you find a greater purpose to what you do, it will really drive you through the challenges that you're going to face."

The next step for Annees is an expansion into South East Queensland, but there are even more ambitious plans for the brand's future. "I'd love to bring this back to the States as an Australian brand," Annie says. "We want to establish who we are and our identity really strongly before we go anywhere else but Annees as a global brand is the ultimate goal."

Related articles

• The Daylesford store bringing joy to locals
• How taking a risk to start a doughnut business paid off
• Three Gippsland businesses making the most of local produce

Published: 27 July 2026