LAP Coffee's Berlin Blitz Leaves Local Cafés on Edge
November 16 - 2025
Coffee Geography Magazine
In the trendy neighborhoods of Berlin, a wave of electric blue storefronts has become a familiar and contentious sight. This is the expanding empire of LAP Coffee, a budget start-up whose rapid rise over the past two years is leaving a bitter taste for many in the German capital. With its no-frills interiors and cappuccinos priced at just 2.50 euros, the chain has become a popular haunt for cost-conscious Berliners.
The minimalist experience inside a LAP branch is a study in efficiency. Sparse seating encourages a quick, Instagrammable selfie in front of the chic decor before customers depart with their coffee in a signature electric blue cup. The service model is equally streamlined; a staff member selects a drink on a touch screen, triggering a machine that produces the beverage without the need for grinding or filtering. "It's very fast!" remarked Artur Kluge, a 22-year-old student in Prenzlauer Berg, who finds the quality "pretty good" but is truly drawn by the price. In a country where coffee prices have surged, he notes that "two or three euros is definitely a good price."
However, this rapid expansion has sparked a significant backlash. The chain, whose name stands for Life Among People, is accused of squeezing out the local cafes that give Berlin its character. This discontent has moved beyond grumbling to active protest; in October, several LAP shops were vandalized with red paint. Street posters decry the chain's "aggressive" expansion as the "rotten cherry on top of a gentrification process" that is displacing people and small businesses.
This sentiment is echoed by local cafe owners like Umut Ekinci, whose establishment, Auntie's Cafe, is just minutes away from a LAP branch. He observes that LAP is "changing the market," particularly in areas like Prenzlauer Berg which has historically resisted global chains. With six outlets already in the neighborhood, Ekinci contrasts his service with LAP's automated approach: "All they have to do is press a button, serve the coffee, say goodbye and that's it." While he understands the appeal of low prices, he laments, "it's destroying the other small coffee businesses."
In response, LAP co-founder Ralph Hage, a veteran of Red Bull and Standard Chartered, defends the company as an innovator simply offering "fair prices and honest coffee to customers." He argues that the lower prices are made possible through efficiency and a novel preparation method, stating, "We've seen very little innovation in coffee in the last 30 years." Despite being backed by heavyweight investors like Insight Partners and HV Capital, Hage insists LAP is not a multinational but a "local business" that is "generally very open to dialogue."