Business

The family behind the coffee company taking over South Africa

Kirsten Minnaar • 29 November 2025

Rob Maud, Kirstin Maud, and Sebastian Schneider founded Motherland Coffee, one of South Africa’s most notable local coffee companies, from a living room table.

Today, the business is one of the most popular and beloved coffee shops in the country, but the company’s story involves a tragic loss, a world tour, and an innovative business concept.

In 2002, Rob Maud founded his own business, Red Hand Sign Supplies. However, when his father passed away, he had to hand the company over to a manager.

Maud proceeded to, reluctantly, take over the family business, E.G Maud and Sons, a signage & furniture business.

He ran the business for three years and nearly reached the point of burnout when he was finally able to hand the company over to another manager.

Maud had nothing planned for what he wanted to pursue next, and since his own business was under good management, he was left with no clear path.

One day, he had the idea to travel the world. He tried to fight this urge for around a month, knowing it would be expensive and he didn’t have an income.

However, it wasn’t long before he and his wife, Kirstin, decided to throw caution to the wind and go on this adventure.

So, in 2009, along with their two daughters, who were three and five years old at the time, they embarked on their global travels, first visiting Australia, then China, the United States, and ending in Europe.

This trip was meant to be restorative and help Rob heal from the difficult few years he had had. However, this doesn’t mean the Mauds were sitting still.

They were documenting their trips on a travel blog called “Force Quit”, and were also on the hunt for a new business venture.

They knew they were interested in the coffee industry, and had originally planned to find a product that they liked in the United States and bring it to South Africa.

However, by the end of their trip, there was nothing that had caught their attention. It was on the final leg of their trip, on a train in Munich, that they had the idea of starting their own brand.

Founding Motherland

When the Mauds arrived back in South Africa, everyone was expecting them to immigrate. However, to everyone’s, and their own, surprise, Rob and Kirstin actually returned with a great love for Africa.

They knew they wanted to found an African brand that told the story about the continent’s heritage and the birthplace of coffee. So, Motherland was born.

They, along with Kirstin’s brother, Sebastian Schneider, started the business from a dining room table in their home in Rosebank. This was also Motherland’s office for the company’s first 18 months.

The first Motherland opened in The Zone, Rosebank, in 2010. Not long after, they opened their second location in the Dunkeld West Centre, Randburg.

From the start, they only sold fair trade, African-origin coffee beans, which were directly and ethically sourced.

This was quite unusual at the time, since there wasn’t yet a focus on fair trade products, and African-origin coffees weren’t really sold in commercial cafes.

When they started the business, they wanted to own and operate the stores themselves, rather than franchise out, even if that meant their growth would be slower.

They tested new products and locations, and over time gained a better understanding of what worked for the business.

The business continued to grow its footprint, and in 2016, the Mauds handed over the day-to-day operations to Schneider, who is still Motherland’s managing director today.

While Schneider still wanted to focus on Motherland owning most of the stores, he realised that franchisees were better able to connect with their own communities’ needs.

So, they started introducing some franchisees to the business as well, which has allowed them to grow to around 20 locations across South Africa.

In October 2025, Motherland opened its newest store, in Homestead Road, Edenburg. The brand is continuously updating its offering with new products and seasonal menus.

“Coffee is very competitive at the moment, and I think it will take time for the market to grow,” Schneider said. “That’s the environment that we are trading in. But there’s always opportunity – that’s the reality of it.”

“With Motherland, we’re looking to find those unique valuable rewarding opportunities and explore them.”