Mugg & Bean - It’s a fairy tale

by Leoni



The first Mugg & Bean launched itself in 1996 at the VA Waterfront in Cape Town. Its far-from-humble beginnings culminated in global invasion with outlets throughout Africa and several outside the African continent. My first experience came about in 1998. I wasn’t particularly savvy about the whole “Mugg & Bean” thing people were raving about at the time.

So it sold coffee, nothing miraculous about that.

Then I ordered a muffin.

At that juncture in time, Dr. Who hoisted me up into his Tardis (yes, my 80’s hero and time lord from planet Gallifrey who traveled in a trusty police box helped me out here) and transported me back to the snugness of my childhood bed. Impeccable timing too as my mother was in the midst of reading Jack and the Beanstalk, so I settled behind the covers, engrossed.

When it came to fairy tales, my enthusiasm stemmed from the arsenal of resources my imagination regurgitated forth. What would you see? Just as you looked over the precipice of those billowing clouds and the gravity of what lay before you registered – what would it look like? I could conjure up a different scenario every time.

Now tell me, can you imagine the size of a muffin cooked in the kitchens of Giantsville? I can assure you that you don’t need magic beans nor for that matter an overworked imagination. You just need to head to Mugg & Bean and discover it for yourself!

When my mother visited from overseas recently I took her to The Grove Mugg & Bean. She ordered a muffin. Take comfort in the fact that I doubt she danced the tango with Dr. Who as I did, nonetheless the site of this monstrosity did conjure up something. Profanities. They never pass her lips, but she couldn’t help herself when she saw the giant!

Like the original tale in 1734 called The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean, a franchise takes time to get the whole shebang operating at maximum efficiency. I mean Jack Spriggins became moralized in a Benjamin Tabart story, then Henry Cole published it, and in 1890, Joseph Jacobs rewrote the English fairy tale into the version most of us are familiar with today. So perfection takes countless tweaking.

Evolving and staying ahead of the game is essential. It can be said for an almost 300-year-old story as well as a franchise that has spanned 21 successful years. Since their inception their menu has changed with the times but they have always remained true to the allure of dynamite coffee – and giant M&B muffins. Now I’d pay a few magic beans for that.