Costa Coffee
Encyclopedia
Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse
company founded in 1971 by Italian
brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee
to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Since 1995 it has been a subsidiary of Whitbread
, since when the company has grown to over 1700 stores in the UK and abroad. The company's current managing director is John Derkach and Adrian Johnson is Chief Operating Officer. It is the largest coffeehouse chain in the United Kingdom and second-largest in the world (behind Starbucks
).
coffee in 1978, when their first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, England.
In 1995, the business was acquired by Whitbread and is now a subsidiary of Whitbread Company. In 2009 Costa celebrated the opening of their 1000th store in Cardiff, and is consequently the largest coffee chain in the UK. In 2010 they acquired 'Coffee Heaven', which had a strong presence in central and eastern Europe, for £36m adding another 79 stores. By the end of 2010 the company had overtaken Starbucks
in the UK, taking 37.6% of the market share based on turnover.
Costa Coffee operates 1175 outlets in the United Kingdom as of January 2011, making it the largest British chain in terms of stores. Internationally it operates 442 stores throughout the world in 28 countries.
Its outlets can be found in airports and within Waterstone's
bookstores, WHSmith, Homebase
branches, Marriott Hotels, Odeon Cinemas
, Tesco
stores, Pizza Hut
branches, Beefeater
Pubs, Moto
and RoadChef
motorway services and in some workplaces. Smaller sub-units are also set up in railway stations and airports throughout the UK. Costa Coffee also have small outlets positioned on out-of-town business parks, often among other food retailers. Their biggest branch is located in Dubai
and can seat 320 people.
Countries currently with Costa Coffee locations:
stores and motorway services. Costa plan to target hospitals, universities and transport interchanges. These coffee bars will use the same coffee beans as are used in Costa stores and will use fresh milk. Prices will be from £1.95.
.
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
company founded in 1971 by Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Since 1995 it has been a subsidiary of Whitbread
Whitbread
Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...
, since when the company has grown to over 1700 stores in the UK and abroad. The company's current managing director is John Derkach and Adrian Johnson is Chief Operating Officer. It is the largest coffeehouse chain in the United Kingdom and second-largest in the world (behind Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
).
History
Bruno and Sergio Costa set up their coffee roastery in Lambeth, London in 1971, supplying local caterers and coffee shops with their slow-roasted blend mocha Italia. Costa branched out to retailingRetailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
coffee in 1978, when their first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, England.
In 1995, the business was acquired by Whitbread and is now a subsidiary of Whitbread Company. In 2009 Costa celebrated the opening of their 1000th store in Cardiff, and is consequently the largest coffee chain in the UK. In 2010 they acquired 'Coffee Heaven', which had a strong presence in central and eastern Europe, for £36m adding another 79 stores. By the end of 2010 the company had overtaken Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
in the UK, taking 37.6% of the market share based on turnover.
Locations
Its outlets can be found in airports and within Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
bookstores, WHSmith, Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
branches, Marriott Hotels, Odeon Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas is a British chain of cinemas, one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group whose ultimate parent is Terra Firma Capital Partners.-History:Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch...
, Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
stores, Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
branches, Beefeater
Beefeater (restaurant)
Beefeater is a chain of pub restaurants in the United Kingdom, owned by Whitbread. There are currently 131 Beefeater restaurants in the UK.- History :...
Pubs, Moto
Moto Hospitality
Moto Hospitality is a company which operates 58 motorway service stations across the UK.Moto is owned by a consortium of shareholders including Australian Pension Funds and European and New Zealand Infrastructure Funds and is asset managed by Macquarie Investment Bank...
and RoadChef
RoadChef
Roadchef is a company which operates twenty motorway service areas in the UK. Behind Moto and Welcome Break, it is the third largest motorway service area operator .-History:...
motorway services and in some workplaces. Smaller sub-units are also set up in railway stations and airports throughout the UK. Costa Coffee also have small outlets positioned on out-of-town business parks, often among other food retailers. Their biggest branch is located in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
and can seat 320 people.
Countries currently with Costa Coffee locations:
Costa Express
Costa Express is a new concept created by a coffee chain of self-service coffee bars. Following Whitbread's £59.5m acquisition of Coffee Nation - a chain of coffee machines - the 900 Coffee Nation machines will be replaced and re-branded as Costa Express. Costa have plans to expand Costa Express to 3000 locations. Coffee Nation are currently mostly located within TescoTesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
stores and motorway services. Costa plan to target hospitals, universities and transport interchanges. These coffee bars will use the same coffee beans as are used in Costa stores and will use fresh milk. Prices will be from £1.95.
Coffee production
Costa have their own roastery and employ the only three Italian Master Roasters in the UK. The blend served in retail stores is known as "Mocha Italia" and contains six parts arabica beans and one part robusta beans. Costa Coffee employs Gennaro Pelliccia as a coffee taster, who had his tongue insured for £10m with Lloyd's of London in 2009.Costa Book Awards
Since 2006 Costa Coffee is the sponsor of Whitbread Book Awards, which are now called the Costa Book AwardsCosta Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....
.