How Coffee Fellows boosted orders by 30% while reducing staffing pressure

In 1999, Kathrin Tewes opened the first Coffee Fellows in Munich, inspired by the coffeehouse culture she had experienced in London and North America. That single café is the foundation of what is now Germany’s largest coffeehouse chain.

Today, Coffee Fellows is a €100 million business with more than 270 locations across Europe and the US. As they continue to grow, the promise remains the same: everyone, from baristas to guests, should feel at home.

To deliver on that promise at scale, the company knew it needed smarter technology. We spoke with Coffee Fellows to learn how Adyen is helping them digitalize operations, free up employees’ time, and achieve impressive results, all while maintaining the same high quality of service.

Like many hospitality businesses, Coffee Fellows was facing a serious staffing shortage.

As busy city locations reached capacity, teams found themselves stretched thin. Instead of focusing on the service, most of their time went into simply keeping operations running.

On top of that, day-to-day tasks like cash reconciliations became increasingly difficult to manage.

Coffee Fellows knew what they had to do: streamline payments with a digital solution. But their existing provider relied on outdated systems and poor integrations, leaving no room for innovation and little visibility into customer behavior or payment trends.

Coffee Fellows needed a payment partner that could handle high volumes, simplify operations, and support growth.

“We needed a system built to handle our daily volumes and future growth. Manual processes slowing down our teams had to be replaced by a solution that thinks ahead and enables efficiency.”

Stefan Tewes, CEO Coffee Fellows

Self-Order-Store in Düsseldorf, Germany

Coffee Fellows uses Adyen’s single platform to manage all payments, both online and in-store.

With Adyen as the central hub for payments, Coffee Fellows was able to introduce new experiences like self-order stores and cashless cafés, making payments convenient for guests and freeing up time from employees to focus on the service quality.

Guests can pay however they like, by card, mobile wallet, or even by leaving a digital tip.

Thanks to Adyen’s modern APIs, integrating with both existing and new systems was straightforward. With terminals already live in 40+ stores, the rollout was fast and seamless.

Adyen’s compatibility with Coffee Fellows’ management system made the technical setup simple, and close collaboration with the Adyen team ensured everything went smoothly.

“Our goal was to create a setup that supports our growth, relieves our teams, and offers our guests a better experience. With Adyen, we found a partner that makes all of this possible—almost out of the box.”

Stefan Tewes, CEO Coffee Fellows

In Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Sylt, new cashless locations are already open and guests pay exclusively through Adyen terminals.

In Düsseldorf, their first self-ordering only store is open. Guests place their orders at a digital kiosk and pay instantly, without any traditional payment counters in sight.

The result: shorter lines, smoother service, and more browsing time, which often leads to larger baskets.

“We now have access to tools that significantly simplify many processes. For us, that means fewer manual tasks and more time for our guests. Especially during peak times, this is a huge relief.”

Jeanette Quandt, Area Managerin Nordrhein-Westfalen

Self-Order-Store in Düsseldorf, Germany

Working with Adyen has shown clear results. In self-order stores, the average order value has increased by around 30% while the need for additional staff has decreased by roughly 40%, all without compromising on service experience quality.

Traditional checkout counters are also seeing benefits. With preset tipping options (€0.50, €1, or €2) on Adyen terminals, service staff are receiving noticeably higher gratuities.

Looking ahead, Coffee Fellows will continue to explore new ways to serve customers, from in-app ordering and loyalty programs to additional digital touchpoints. They also plan to expand into new markets, adapting to local payment preferences along the way. 

With Adyen’s fast, reliable implementation and dedicated support, Coffee Fellows is well positioned for its next stage of growth.