Matari Coffee

Matari Coffee is a café chain focused on Yemeni coffee and Yemeni coffee culture. The company is headquartered in Romulus, Michigan, and sources its coffee beans from Yemen. Depending on the location, the beans are roasted in Michigan or at the individual café. Its operating concept combines specialty coffee service with cultural presentation and extended opening hours, reflecting the social role of coffee in Yemen and the broader Middle Eastern tradition of cafés remaining open late. The brand was established in Michigan in either 2021 or 2022, with its first reported location in Canton. Its name comes from the Almatari family of Sadeq Almatari, who serves as the company’s chief executive, while also referring to Bani Matar, a Yemeni coffee-growing area that is sometimes known as Matari. This naming connects the commercial brand to both the founder’s family identity and a recognized source region for Yemeni coffee. Matari Coffee uses a franchise-based expansion model rather than operating solely as a small, owner-managed café business. The model has enabled the chain to extend beyond Michigan and into Canada. In July 2023, it opened a location in the Erin Mills Centre section of Ridgeway Plaza in Mississauga, Ontario, marking its reported entry into the Canadian market. Reference material states that the chain had four locations by January 2025 and seven by January 2026. The brand’s principal offer is café-based: Yemeni coffee, other coffee beverages, and the experience of visiting a Yemeni-oriented coffeehouse. Publicly available reference material does not provide a complete menu, detailed financial disclosures, a definitive founding date, or a comprehensive list of franchisees. Matari Coffee is therefore best characterized as an emerging regional and cross-border café brand with a distinctive Yemeni cultural positioning, rather than as a globally established coffee company.

Matari Coffee is a Yemeni coffee café chain based in Romulus, Michigan. Its business is centered on coffee sourced from Yemen and served through cafés designed to reflect Yemeni coffee culture. The company roasts its beans in Michigan or at individual café locations, according to the operating needs of each site. The brand also emphasizes late opening hours, a practice associated with the social and hospitality traditions of Yemeni coffeehouses. The chain began in Michigan in either 2021 or 2022. The available reference identifies Canton, Michigan, as the location of its first café but does not establish a single definitive founding year. Sadeq Almatari, the company’s chief executive, named the business after his family. The name also evokes Bani Matar, a coffee-growing region in Yemen that is known in some contexts as Matari. As a result, the brand name communicates both a family connection and a geographic association with Yemeni coffee production. Matari Coffee developed as a franchise business. This structure allowed the concept to expand beyond its initial Michigan base while retaining a common cultural and product identity across locations. The company’s first reported international expansion occurred in July 2023, when it opened a café in Mississauga, Ontario. The location was situated in the Erin Mills Centre section of Ridgeway Plaza. This launch established Canada as the second reported national market for the brand. The chain continued to grow during the following years. Reference material states that Matari Coffee had four locations by January 2025 and seven by January 2026. These figures indicate a rapid early expansion from a single Michigan café to a multi-location operation in the United States and Canada. The available material does not identify every location, provide a full franchise ownership history, or disclose revenue, investment, or profitability figures. Matari Coffee’s identity is therefore built less around mass-market scale than around a specific cultural and geographic proposition: Yemeni coffee, Yemeni hospitality, and an atmosphere intended to support late-evening social use. Its business model combines this differentiated café concept with franchising, while its Michigan headquarters and Canadian expansion give it a North American operating base. Public sources do not provide sufficient information to determine a precise founding date, formal corporate ownership structure, full menu, or long-term expansion strategy.

• 2026

  Seven-location footprint

  [1]Matari Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  The chain was reported to have seven locations by January.

• 2025

  Four-location footprint

  [1]Matari Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  The chain was reported to have four locations by January.

• 2023

  Canadian market entry

  [1]Matari Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  In July, Matari Coffee opened a location in Mississauga, Ontario, at the Erin Mills Centre section of Ridgeway Plaza.

• First café opens in Canton, Michigan

  [1]Matari Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  Matari Coffee began operations with a reported location in Canton, Michigan. Available material places the founding in either 2021 or 2022 and does not establish a definitive year.

A Yemeni coffee-focused café chain combining coffee sourced from Yemen with Yemeni cultural identity, extended operating hours, and franchise-led expansion.

• Coffee

  Yemeni coffee

  Yemeni coffee is the central product identity of Matari Coffee. The chain sources beans from Yemen and roasts them either in Michigan or at individual café locations. Public reference material does not specify particular varieties, farms, processing methods, or a standardized roast portfolio.

• Café experience

  Matari Coffee cafés

  The company’s cafés provide coffeehouse service organized around Yemeni coffee culture. A notable feature is late operating hours, intended to reflect the social role of Yemeni cafés. The complete beverage, food, and retail assortment is not documented in the available reference material.

• 2023

  Expansion into CanadaStrategy

  Background

  After establishing its initial presence in Michigan, Matari Coffee pursued cross-border growth.

  Action taken

  The company opened a café in Mississauga, Ontario, in July 2023.

  Aftermath

  Canada became the second reported national market for the chain.

  Source

• Adoption of a franchise expansion modelStrategy

  Background

  Matari Coffee developed as a franchise-based café chain rather than limiting growth to company-operated locations.

  Action taken

  The company used franchising to expand its Yemeni coffee concept across locations in the United States and Canada.

  Aftermath

  The model supported expansion from an initial Michigan location to four reported locations by January 2025 and seven by January 2026.

  Source

1. 1Matari Coffeeen.wikipedia.org