Private company

Mugg & Bean

Logo: http://www.themugg.com/images/logo_large.gif, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

Restaurant chain

Mugg & Bean is a full-service coffee-themed restaurant franchise, founded in Cape Town, South Africa. The restaurant chain was founded in 1996 by Ben Filmalter after a visit to a Chicago coffee shop in the early 1990s inspired him to open a similar restaurant in South Africa. The first restaurant was opened at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town in 1996.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1996Founded¹

Industryretail¹
HeadquartersJohannesburg¹
Websitemuggandbean.co.za

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Mugg & Bean is a full-service coffee-themed restaurant franchise, founded in Cape Town, South Africa.²

Products and brands

coffee

Listed on Wikidata.¹

Controversies and legal

Controversy

In late 2018 and early 2019 Mugg & Bean was criticised by political parties and trade unions for alleged unfair labour practices. Trade union COSATU threatened to report the company to regulators for violating labour regulations relating to wages and working conditions.

In a separate incident the company was protested by the Economic Freedom Fighters political party when a restaurant manager was dismissed by a franchise owner amidst allegations of racism whilst the company stated that the manager was simply retrenched to cut costs.

From Wikipedia’s article on Mugg & Bean, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Timeline

1996Founded Founded¹

Sources

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

1
WikidataMugg & Bean on Wikidata
2
WikipediaMugg & Bean on Wikipedia
3
Wikimedia CommonsMugg & Bean logo by http://www.themugg.com/images/logo_large.gif, Public domain
4
WikipediaMugg & Bean on Wikipedia (revision used)
5
Wikimedia CommonsMugg & Bean photo by Discott, CC BY-SA 4.0