Waw Café: the Korean dream of two young students from Malaga

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Iván and José, both 21 years old, inside the premises just before the opening. Migue Fernández Food and drink Waw Café: the Korean dream of two young students from Malaga

The new business, which offers a wide variety of flavoured coffees, has opened in Calle Esperanto in the city

Juan Soto

Malaga

Friday, 19 December 2025, 10:55

They are only 21 years old, but they have been dreaming big for practically their whole lives. Iván Marmolejo and José Rojas, childhood friends and students of the Degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation at TeamLabs, the learning laboratory of the University of Mondragón in Malaga, have decided to set up their own business as their final project. With no previous experience or money, but with a lot of enthusiasm and determination, they have just opened Waw Café, a business offering flavoured coffees in the purest Korean style.

After developing around twenty entrepreneurial projects - including edible cutlery, which won them great recognition - they have decided to open a cafeteria model that they intend to franchise and with which they want to reach all corners of Spain. "We are very excited because everyone has given us a lot of support and they are really getting behind us," they confess.

They explain that they came up with the business idea during a trip to Asia with the university. For three months they visited India, Vietnam and South Korea and were fascinated by the coffees they discovered in the latter country. They were fascinated by the coffees they discovered in the latter country. They, who are very fond of coffee, saw that the businesses there have an infinite number of flavoured coffees and began to develop the idea. "It happened like here with the smash burger, which started out basic and now they make them with crazy things".

They returned from their trip last June and got down to work. Not wanting to jump into the void without having a sufficiently strong net, they began to carry out numerous tests and to offer their creations to friends and strangers. "We gave them out for free on the street, on the beach, to tourists... and we only asked them to fill in a survey to find out what they thought of them. In a second step, they introduced them in some cafés and, finally, they have opened their own premises, "which is the real definitive test".

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Cold pistachio coffee and hot ferrero coffee are two of the specialities. Migue Fernández

But as expected, the opening has not been easy. As they had no money - only some of what they got from the sale of the grocery cutlery company - they tried to take out a small loan but all the banks closed the door on them. Time was running out and they started looking for premises with affordable rents until they found the one they have just opened at 17 Calle Esperanto.

"We decided to take it and start renovating it ourselves with the help of the family, but we knew that if nobody gave us a loan all the work would be for nothing. Finally, almost on the spur of the moment, the BBVA authorised them a small amount of money with which they were finally able to make their debut in Malaga. "At some points we thought we were not going to be able to do it," they confess now excited.

Hours before the opening, which took place this Thursday, they assure this newspaper that they are not afraid because, in addition to the tests carried out, they have built up a large community on social networks: they already have around 30,000 followers and more than a thousand subscribers to their newsletters and promotions.

Fifteen varieties of coffee

Waw Café has fifteen different varieties of coffee, divided into basic, special and waw (the house speciality). The latter include pistachio, kinder, nougat and ferrero. They have both hot and cold drinks and every week they will add a new recipe that they will keep changing to keep customers coming back "and surprise them with some crazy flavour". Prices range from 1.80 euros for the simplest to 5.50 euros for a speciality.

To complete the offer, there is a display of cakes and sandwiches and other drinks, including hot chocolate and teas, which will be added over the next few weeks. Practically all the products are from Malaga companies, in a serious commitment to local products.

Iván and José are from Churriana and have known each other since they were fifteen. Back then they were already dreaming big. Since then they have tackled numerous entrepreneurial projects with mixed fortunes, although the fear of failure has never been an obstacle for them. Among others, they have set up an online clothing shop, sold fans for the neck in summer and sold water on the street.

As for the ease of entrepreneurship, they believe that the important thing is to have an idea that can work. "I don't think money is the problem; in fact, we have done it without it," they explain. In their case, they are confident that this will be the definitive project, although it is not something that obsesses them. "We are young and we have our whole lives ahead of us".