London born and blended
Costa Coffee was founded in London by two Italian brothers – Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971. It was their love of great coffee and an inability to find a great one in London that led to the birth of Costa Coffee. The brothers were so committed to creating the perfect coffee it took 112 attempts to produce their Mocha Italia Signature Blend.
Today, as a Total Coffee Company, Costa Coffee is committed to providing consumers with a coffee for every occasion, wherever they are. Whether that’s in a retail store, a drive-thru lane, on-the-go from a Costa Express self-serve machine, from its coffee in a can product range, delivery via its three delivery partners or through its ‘At Home’ Hot Chocolate, Premium Instant, or Roast & Ground coffee and compatible products.
Costa Coffee and its franchise partners own and operate almost 2,800 coffee shops in the UK and Ireland, making Costa Coffee the largest coffee shop company in the UK. And for 12 consecutive years since 2010, has been voted and named the “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies.
As a TUCO approved and preferred supplier, Costa Coffee offers two formats to sites – retail stores, which serve Costa’s full handcrafted drinks and food ranges, or a smaller kiosk format, perfect for proudly serving Costa coffee on-the-go.
Behind the beans
To continue
making coffee the world loves, Costa Coffee works on crafting more sustainable coffee from crop to cup. It is committed to sourcing products with integrity, protecting human rights, supporting the communities behind its coffee, and maintaining animal welfare standards.
Costa Coffee works closely with suppliers, sustainable practice experts and NGOs to ensure responsible decisions are being made for people and planet. One example is all Costa Coffee’s beans are 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified™ and was the first UK coffee shop to achieve this in 2010. This also means that for every cup Costa Coffee serves, it is contributing to a better future for farmers and their families.
This is also demonstrated through its support for the work of The Costa Foundation, an independent charity established in 2007 that aims to improve the life chances of children in the world’s coffee growing communities by helping them access safe, quality, education. In 2022, the Foundation will open its 100th school, and celebrate educating 100,000 students across 10 countries.
Halving carbon emissions per coffee serving by 2030
It is vital that the planet is respected when producing coffee and to reduce environmental footprint at every step. Costa Coffee is committed to halving carbon emissions per serving of coffee by 2030 and will target total net zero carbon emissions by 2040. It’s 2030 target is approved by the internationally recognised Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and builds on work Costa Coffee had been doing for many years.
Its UK company-owned stores have been using 100% renewable electricity since 2017 and since the start of 2022, its UK roastery in Essex has been powered by 100% renewable gas. As one of the biggest roasteries in Europe, producing 45,000 tonnes of coffee a year, it is one of the most sustainable, with solar panels, rainwater recycling and minimal waste to landfill.
Alongside this work, Costa Coffee is collaborating with suppliers of key ingredients, such as coffee and dairy milk, to improve farming practices, and working with logistics suppliers to find low-carbon fuel alternatives. As well as providing and encouraging consumers to try more plant-based food and alternative milk options through new menus and special offers.
Cups and packaging
Cups and packaging are also a very important part of Costa Coffee’s sustainability plan and is committed to shaping, creating, and championing new plant-based cups, lids, and packaging solutions. The company is also actively encouraging and rewarding customers to bring and use reusable cups in stores.
For those who download the Costa Club app and visit a larger, participating Costa Coffee store, they can be rewarded with double beans when purchasing their favourite handcrafted drink using a reusable cup. So, for every four drinks purchased using a reusable cup, they receive the fifth drink free!
Reducing food waste
Costa Coffee has also joined The Courtauld Commitment 2030 – a voluntary agreement to drive collaborative action across the entire UK food chain on reducing food waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water stress. In joining, Costa Coffee has further accelerated its work on food waste, which has been part of its environmental strategy for many years through its partnerships with organisations such as FareShare and anti-food waste app, Too Good To Go.
Costa Coffee became the first large-scale UK coffee chain to partner with Too Good To Go, which allows people to buy and collect unsold food at a discounted price, and prevent it from going to waste. To date, an impressive 630,000 Magic Bags, as they are known, have been collected by customers from stores.
Looking to the future
Despite financial challenges ahead for the UK economy, the coffee category remains a key growth area, with sales expected to exceed £3 billion at 5.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years (Allegra, 2021). Consumers will carry on purchasing and enjoying great coffee and as a global coffee business, Costa Coffee will continue to challenge itself in protecting and supporting the planet and people who produce and sell its handcrafted drinks and food.
Visit www.costa.co.uk or email [email protected] to find out more about serving customers from the nation’s favourite coffee shop.
