Deluxe was started in April 2009 by Carl Wessel and Judd Nicolay. Judd had worked in coffee for many years in his home country of New Zealand and recognised the need for and lack of good coffee in Cape Town.

Carl co-owned a prominent production company and was looking for a change of pace from the demands of the film industry.

They met in a Cape Town bar at the time where Judd was looking for a partner and a few weeks later Carl emptied his bank account and they bought a 2nd hand roaster which they installed in Carl’s backyard.

Around 6 months later they opened their first shop at 25 Church Street in the heart of the Cape Town CDB complete with the in-house 5kg roaster and started to sling espresso to everyone from high court judges and lawyers to skaters and punks! It was also home of the R10 cup of coffee!

Along the way were joined by investor Steve Gray. They expanded to larger premises and opened additional shops in the city bowl, Stellenbosch and several branches in Namibia.

Over the last 12 years, they have branched out into many areas of the coffee industry including opening several branches in Namibia and a healthy consulting business for Hotels, restaurants and cafes worldwide.