As part of this event series, the SCE invites entrepreneurial personalities two or three times a semester to enrich the students, start-up teams, scholarship holders and guests from business and industry with their careers – through a lecture and a subsequent panel discussion.
Michael Käfer After studying business administration, he opened the legendary P1 nightclub. It became clear to him very early on that he wanted to take over and develop the family business as an entrepreneur. In 1988, he joined the management team and in 1995 became sole managing director and shareholder of the Käfer Group, which by that time was already a major player in the Munich restaurant, delicatessen, and party service sectors. Under his leadership, the company has expanded steadily and today, with over 1,100 employees, generates annual sales of around 140 million euros. In 2013, Galut&Millau named Michael Käfer "Restaurateur of the Year."
The core of the Käfer Group remains its renowned headquarters on Munich's Prinzregentenstraße, with its delicatessen and the Käfer-Schänke restaurant. In addition, the Käfer Wies'n-Schänken at the Oktoberfest and the theater catering at Munich's state theaters are among the traditional pillars of the family business, to which Michal Käfer is gradually adding new business areas.
One of the first projects was the expansion of the licensing business, which established the Käfer name as a premium brand in the German food retail industry. In 1998, this was followed by the takeover of the catering operations in the eastern part of the Munich Trade Fair Center, as well as the management of the parliamentary catering facilities and the public roof garden restaurant in the German Bundestag in Berlin.
Michael Käfer also continuously expanded his party service and opened up new business areas abroad. Today, he is the European market leader in the premium event catering segment and was honored with the Leader of the Year Award in 2013 as "Caterer of the Year." The largest event in the company's history to date, however, was the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where Käfer Party Service managed the Sky Box and Elite hospitality programs in all 12 host cities and catered for 174,000 guests over the four weeks.
Another concept with growth potential is the Käfer delicatessen market, which has now been implemented in Parsdorf, Brunnthal and Schwabing, with further locations being planned.
Most recently, Michael Käfer secured the catering at BMW Welt, where the gourmet restaurant EssZimmer and Käfer chef Bobby Bräuer were awarded two Michelin stars for the second year running. Finally, in 2013, Blue Lion GmbH entrusted Käfer with the management of the historic Kaltenbrunn estate on Lake Tegernsee, where, after extensive renovations, the restaurant and beer garden opened in 2015.
Michael Käfer has been married to his wife Clarissa since July 2007. In March 2011, they became parents of twins Nikolas and Raphael, who have been the center of their lives ever since.
