Funny how such things work. Earlier this week I was musing about the amazing culture Mugg & Bean’s founder Ben Filmalter imbued into his creation. It was during a delicious supper at the brand’s Sun City outlet where one cannot fail to be struck by the attentive staff, excellent food and, as always with Ben’s businesses, generous portions. This afternoon we received the sad news that this gifted entrepreneur has passed on. Ben, who was schooled at Springs Boys High, was an icon in South Africa’s food business for as long as I can remember. A larger-than-life personality, his great success was Mugg & Bean which he started 20 years ago. In 2009, Filmalter sold his creation for R104m to Famous Brands whose CEO Kevin Hedderwick once told me: “I’d known Ben almost all my life – he was my customer when I was still at Distillers Corporation – and for two years I kept pestering him to do a deal. One day out of the deal he phoned up and said OK. It was a very happy day for us. Ever since, if there’s one thing that Mugg & Bean still stands for – and it’s played back to us by consumers all the time – is one word…generosity. Ditto Mr Filmalter. He will be missed. – Alec Hogg
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It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Ben Conrad Filmalter, founder of Mugg & Bean, passed away peacefully this morning after his battle with Leukaemia.
Filmalter was an industry legend; during his time he conceptualised and developed more than 50 unique restaurants. Among his many achievements was Mugg & Bean.
Filmalter and his wife, launched Mugg & Bean at the V&A Waterfront in 1996, after a visit to a coffee shop in Chicago, USA. The combination of great food, good coffee, quality service and generosity made a lasting impression on them, so much so that they brought the experience to the South African market. He also experimented with the first “On the Move” unit at OR Tambo International Airport.
Now, 20 years later, Mugg & Bean has over 200 outlets and is one of South Africa’s most loved brands. All testament to the solid beliefs and generous spirit Filmalter imbued in the brand.
Marketing Executive of Mugg & Bean, Lee-Ann Cullingworth has expressed the Mugg & Bean family’s sorrow. “Today is truly a sad day for every single Mugg & Bean’er. Ben Filmalter will be remembered for all the lives that he has touched and inspired, and his spirit of generosity will continue to live on at the core of every Mugg & Bean,” said Cullingworth, speaking on behalf of the team.
Sad to hear that Mugg & Bean founder Ben Filmalter has passed away. An entrepreneur with vision
— Yaseen Theba (@yaseentheba) July 26, 2016
Having described himself as a dreamer speaking at a conference a few years ago, he said, “My dream got me through tough times and made me get up every day to find ways to do better. I dreamt of having the best restaurant in the country. So you should constantly dream.”
Ben Filmalter leaves behinds his wife, Judi and two sons, Anthony and Adam.
Biznews community member Andre Prakke shares some memories
I just joined Santambank in 1979 when Ben’s brother applied for a loan for him and himself to buy Linger Longer. He just left his apprenticeship at the Malgas Hotel and the owners of Linger Longer were retiring. His brother, John, was a CA(SA) and had his own practise in Springs and had been a long-time customer of Santam Bank which was then a subsidiary of Santam Insurance. I prepared the application and submitted it and was approved all the way to Head Office. They declined it so we invited them to come for lunch, they were “over” happy , the Filmalters knew how to convince customers and as a result, signed the deal on Friday late afternoon.
One way we always kept record was an excuse so that I could have coffee with them was how they would determine the day’s turnover by patrons and money spent by clients. The secret was the movement in the gold price and being inquisitive, we actually plotted the movements and there was a direct correlation. Needless to say the loan was paid off promptly.
Thereafter we financed Leipoldt and Bucarat in Rosebank. They had an ice cream shop in Melville also.
They eventually bought the building in Braamfontein and made it their Head Office.
His brother John would every morning go and cash-up the restaurants and Ben was working on the menus and his wife was a chef for a long time at some restaurants.
What a wonderful person he was and I still have a copy of the cookbook he compiled when they opened Leipoldt and was authored by C Louis Leipoldt.
