| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Founded | 1971 (London) |
| Founder(s) | Sergio and Bruno Costa |
| Headquarters | Dunstable, England, United Kingdom |
| Area served | United Kingdom, South Asia, China, Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe |
| Key people | John Derkach (Managing Director) Adrian Johnson (Chief Operating Officer) |
| Products | Hot drinks, particularly coffee, small snacks and soft drinks |
| Operating income | £340.9m (2009/10)[1] |
| Parent | Whitbread |
| Website | http://costa.co.uk |
Costa Coffee is a multinational coffeehouse company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of Whitbread. It is the largest coffeehouse chain in the United Kingdom and second-largest in the world (behind Starbucks).[2]
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by the Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. It was acquired by Whitbread in 1995, since when it has grown to over 1,700 stores across 28 countries.[3]
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Bruno and Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Lambeth, London in 1971, supplying local caterers and coffee shops with their slow-roasted blend mocha Italia.[4] Costa branched out to retailing coffee in 1978, when their first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, England.
In 1995, the business was acquired by Whitbread, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2009 Costa celebrated the opening of their 1,000th store - in Cardiff. In December 2009, Costa Coffee agreed to acquire Coffee Heaven for £36 million, adding 79 stores in central and eastern Europe.[5] By the end of 2010 the company had overtaken Starbucks in the UK, reaching a 37.6% market share measured by revenues.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8] 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.
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.[9] Costa have plans to expand Costa Express to 3000 locations. Coffee Nation are currently mostly located within Tesco stores and motorway services. Costa plan to target hospitals, universities and transport interchanges. [10] 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. [11]
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.[12] Costa Coffee employs Gennaro Pelliccia as a coffee taster, who had his tongue insured for £10m with Lloyd's of London in 2009.[13]
Since 2006 Costa Coffee is the sponsor of Whitbread Book Awards, which are now called the Costa Book Awards.
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