Austrian cafe-patisserie AIDA is celebrating more than 110 years of history by highlighting that it is the world's first coffee house chain, tracing its origins to Vienna in 1913.
Founded by confectioner Josef Prousek and his wife Rosa, AIDA pioneered a business model based on multiple locations operating under a single brand while maintaining consistent products, recipes and quality standards.
Today, the family-owned company is led by fourth-generation owner Dominik Prousek, who says the business continues to balance tradition with innovation while preserving its Viennese identity.
"When my great-grandfather Josef Prousek opened his first additional locations in 1913, he essentially created what the world today knows as the coffee shop chain,” he said.
Josef Prousek's journey began in modest circumstances in northern Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, before he moved to Vienna as a young man to train as a confectioner.
After taking over a local patisserie, he expanded the business by opening additional outlets under the same name, offering identical cakes, coffee and customer experience across the city.
The business quickly expanded, opening five locations in Vienna during its early years and growing to 11 branches before the outbreak of World War II.
Although much of the company was destroyed during the war, Josef Prousek and his son Felix rebuilt the business in the post-war period.
Coffee had been part of AIDA's offering since the 1920s, when beverages were prepared using the traditional Viennese pour-over method.
AIDA has also maintained its commitment to in-house production.
Since 1974, the company's pastries have been produced at its manufacturing facility in Vienna's Floridsdorf district, where creams, cake bases and jams continue to be prepared using traditional recipes.
The company sources many of its ingredients from Austrian suppliers and says its emphasis remains on craftsmanship and quality rather than low-cost production.
The cafe's distinctive pink branding has become one of its most recognisable features in Vienna.
According to the company, the colour is a tribute to Rosa Prousek, whose name means "pink" in German and who helped build the business alongside her husband.
While deeply rooted in Viennese coffee house traditions, AIDA has increasingly expanded beyond Austria.
The company now operates more than 40 locations, including cafes in Berlin, Munich and Jeddah, through partnerships with travel retail and food service operators.
Another outlet is scheduled to open at Vienna Airport in 2027.
In 2025, AIDA's Munich Airport location won the FAB Award for Best Airport To-Go Offer, while its Jeddah Airport branch was recognised as the leading coffee house concept in the Middle East and Africa.
The same year, the company received the "Coffee Brand of the Year" award at the Pepsi European QSR Franchise Awards, outperforming more than 300 nominated brands.
Dominik Prousek said the company's mission is to modernise without sacrificing authenticity.
"Our task is not to put tradition in a museum, but to carry it into the future responsibly and in a contemporary way," he added.