Coffee Fellows returns to founding family control amid growth plans

Coffee Fellows is back under the control of the family that founded it, and that shift lands at a moment when the Munich group is already pushing well past its café roots. The business now runs more than 300 coffee shops, mostly in Germany, alongside dozens of hotels, so this is not just a governance change. It is a reset for a brand that sits between chain café, franchise platform and lodging operator.

Founded in Munich in 1999 by Kathrin Tewes, Coffee Fellows has been led by the family for years, with Stefan Tewes joining management in 2000. The company says it remains a family-owned business directed by Stefan and Kathrin Tewes, and Stefan Tewes framed the move as a sign of what comes next, saying, “This change emphasises Coffee Fellows’ further growth ambitions.”

That growth story already has a clear recent track record. In January 2024, Coffee Fellows bought Wayne’s 25-store German business from Tank & Rast, adding 24 motorway-service-area stores and one site outside Berlin’s Friedrichstraße rail station to its footprint. In July 2024, the company also brought in new board members to support expansion, a sign that the group was building for a bigger operating push before this latest ownership shift.

The scale matters because Coffee Fellows is not just a café chain. Coffee Fellows Hotels lists properties in Dortmund, Trier, Frankfurt-Airport, Langen and Munich-Freiham, showing that the lodging arm is a live part of the business, not a side project. Public deal data also point to a changing capital structure, with Paarl Equity listed as a former minority investor and a Coffee Fellows asset purchase involving KH Hotel in Geisenfeld closing on 5 February 2026.

For the café side, family control could sharpen decisions around menu, store identity and the pace of new openings. That matters in Germany’s crowded coffee market, where independents, transport-hub operators and convenience-led formats all fight for the same morning and afternoon traffic. Coffee Fellows has long occupied a middle ground, and returning to founding-family control gives it a better chance to lean into a more distinctive German café personality rather than drifting into generic chain territory.

The company’s own figures underline how far that identity now has to stretch. Coffee Fellows says it has more than 280 partner shops across Europe, Asia and Africa, while a 2025 German-language source put the network at 269 cafés in 12 countries. With more than 300 coffee shops now in play, the family’s return is less a sentimental reunion than a chance to steer a growing chain with a clearer hand.