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Private company

Dulce Café

Logo: Modjoza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

South African café chain

Dulce Café is the name of a coffee shop/restaurant chain operating in South Africa. Originating in the city of Port Elizabeth, the company started as one small ice cream shop in 1980 and has now grown to 53 stores throughout the country.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1980Founded1

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Dulce Café is the name of a coffee shop/restaurant chain operating in South Africa. Originating in the city of Port Elizabeth, the company started as one small ice cream shop in 1980 and has now grown to 53 stores throughout the country.2

The story

Hubert Stempowski founded Dulce Café, at its height, employed over 110 people throughout the Eastern Cape. Dulce Ice Cream opened for business in July 1981 in a small complex in Sydenham, Port Elizabeth.

In 2001, a management buyout was led by Mike Pullen, who became the majority shareholder of the company. The brand began to target niche markets such as hospital stores.

In early 2013, Pullen sold out his majority shareholding in Dulcé Café SA (to focus on the international market) to Kobus Wiese of Wiese Coffee Holdings.

In 2011, agreements were signed to expand the brand into East Africa, West Africa and the MENA territories. In Oct 2015, a master franchise agreement was signed for India.

From Wikipedia’s article on Dulce Café, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1980Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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