In 1949, two entrepreneurs, Max Herz and his business partner Carl Tchilling-Hiryan, founded a small mail-order coffee company in Hamburg with a revolutionary vision: to bring freshly roasted coffee directly to consumers' homes. The company name 'Tchibo' itself embodies this heritage, combining 'Tchilling' from the founder's name with 'Bohne,' the German word for bean. What began as a passion for freshness quickly evolved into something much larger. By 1955, Tchibo opened its first shop, inventing the modern coffee shop experience. Within just three years, 77 shops had opened, with new locations appearing weekly. The founders' obsession with freshness - from roasting and blending to sealing and packaging - became the foundation of what would become Europe's #1 coffeehouse.
Today, Tchibo operates approximately 900 shops across eight countries, alongside over 16,000 retail depots and national online stores, employing 10,452 people worldwide and generating €3.36 billion in annual revenue. But Tchibo has always been more than just coffee. The company pioneered a unique retail concept introducing weekly changing non-food collections - from clothing to household items - creating reasons for customers to return regularly. This innovative 'coffee plus' model, combined with single-portion systems like Cafissimo and Qbo, mobile telecommunications services, and a robust e-commerce presence, has made Tchibo a lifestyle brand. As a family-owned hanseatic business, Tchibo has embedded sustainability into its core values since 2006, earning recognition as Germany's most sustainable major enterprise in 2016. The company's patented Aroma Protect Technology and commitment to ethical sourcing demonstrate that after 75 years, Tchibo remains driven by the same passion for freshness, quality, and responsibility that started in a Hamburg port.