Manolo Bakes CEO: José Antonio del Castillo takes charge
The Spanish cruffin chain's general manager succeeds co-founder Pablo Nuño, who steps back as the company, now 49.9% owned by British fund VGO Capital, lines up its next expansion push.
Manolo Bakes has a new chief executive. José Antonio del Castillo, until now the Spanish pastry chain's general manager, takes over as CEO and chairman, the company confirmed. He replaces Pablo Nuño, who co-founded the brand with Ángel Terrés and is leaving both the CEO role and the chairmanship of parent company De Boca en Boca 2017.
Manolo Bakes built its name on a single product, the cruffin, a croissant-muffin hybrid sold through a chain of pastel-toned shops that has grown into one of Spain's best-known bakery exports. British fund VGO Capital took control of the company in January 2024 and now holds 49.9% of shares.
The rest of the ownership reads like a list of Spanish footballers' side ventures. Arte y Sano Millenium, linked to Nuño, holds 30.77%; Planeamiento del Territorio, linked to Terrés, holds 9.11%; Inerzia Técnica holds 5.2%; and Sayaka Management holds 5.02%. Sayaka's investors include Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets and the Alcántara brothers, while Arte y Sano's backers include striker Álvaro Morata.
A founder-led bakery chain moves further into professional, fund-backed management.
A voluntary exit, the company says
Manolo Bakes describes Nuño's departure as his own voluntary decision and says the change is “not linked to any corporate transaction.” Both Nuño and Terrés remain shareholders, stepping back from executive duties while keeping their stakes.
The leadership change comes alongside a new push on growth. The company has named David López, formerly Subway's head of development for the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe region, to run a newly unified department covering both domestic and international expansion. For another look at Spanish food brands building out beyond their borders, see our report on Rafael Nadal's wine launch from Jumilla.
What comes next
Neither the company's current store count nor its revenue featured in the announcement. What is clear is the direction: a founder-led brand moving further into professional, fund-backed management, with expansion now run by someone who spent his career scaling a much larger chain. For a cruffin chain built on a single hybrid pastry, the next test is whether that scaling know-how travels as well abroad as the product already has.
