Costa Coffee

Signage outside a branch in Cromer

Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Fenchurch Street, London, in 1971, supplying local caterers. The family had moved to England from Parma, Italy, in the 1950s.[6][7] Costa branched out to selling coffee and opened their first store in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London in 1981.[8]

By 1995, the Costa Coffee chain had 41 stores in UK,[9] and was acquired by Whitbread, the UK's largest hotel and coffee shop operator, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2009, Costa opened its 1,000th store in Cardiff. In December 2009, Costa Coffee agreed to acquire the Polish chain Coffeeheaven for £36 million, adding 79 stores in central and eastern Europe.[10]

The company's products (such as its coffee and drinks) were sold in Brewers Fayre and Beefeater until it was subsequently purchased by the Coca-Cola Company from Whitbread.

In 2018, Whitbread faced pressure from two of its largest shareholders, activist group Elliott Advisers and hedge fund Sachem Head, to sell or demerge Costa Coffee, the theory being that the individual businesses would be worth much more than the one company alone.[11] On 25 April 2018, Whitbread announced its intention to fully demerge Costa within two years.[12] On 3 January 2019 the Coca-Cola Company purchased Costa Coffee for $4.9 billion.[13]

In November 2019, Dominic Paul was succeeded as CEO of the company by Jill McDonald.[14] In March 2020, all UK coffee shops were closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In late May some branches reopened for takeaway or drive-through orders.[15] In 2022, Costa Coffee discontinued the Costa Book Awards that Whitbread had started 51 years earlier.[16]

An espresso served at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Costa branches sell hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and pastries, and snacks. In 2020, the brand collaborated with three chocolate brands (Quality Street, After Eight and Terry's) for some of their limited-edition Christmas drinks.[17]

Costa moved its roastery from Lambeth to Basildon, Essex, in May 2017 with an investment of £38 million, increasing their annual coffee-roasting capacity from 11,000 to 45,000 tonnes.[18]

In 2020, Costa Coffee canned coffee was introduced.

Costa Coffee employs Gennaro Pelliccia as a coffee taster, who had his tongue insured for £10m with Lloyd's of London in 2009.[19][20]

On 19 August 2019, Costa Coffee attracted media attention due to claims of unfair deductions from the pay of its employees.[31] Reports stated that current and former employees had £200 deducted from their pay for training, as well as additional deductions being levied for till discrepancies and running costs. Claims of unfair deductions were triggered by a Twitter post suggesting that staff at a Costa store were forced to reimburse money lost to scammers who came into the store. Trying to distance themselves from the controversy, Costa said contracts for franchise stores were managed by franchisees, and that some staff contracts did have "clauses relating to deductions".

Only four days later, additional claims appeared in the media that Costa Coffee franchise workers were "not treated like humans".[32] The report included managers' alleged refusal to pay for sickness, annual leave, or working outside contracted hours, and retaining tips. It cited an anonymous former employee at a store under Goldex Essex Investments Ltd who claimed that almost £1,000 of their holiday pay was deducted from their salary, despite being contracted to work 48 hours a week. The report said that baristas and employees at managerial level had complained about the numerous deductions outlined in Costa Coffee franchisees' contracts. A former manager was quoted as saying she had £150 deducted from her wages after having been five minutes late opening the store. Other fines outlined in the contracts were for uniform that were damaged when returned to the employer, excessive waste and till discrepancies. A Costa Coffee spokesperson responded that an independent audit had been launched.

Costa Coffee has been the sponsor of the Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread Book Awards) since 2006. On 10 June 2022 they announced this would end.[33]

• List of coffeehouse chains

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Costa Coffee.

• Official website