Caffè Nero facts for kids
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Wandsworth Bridge Road Caffè Nero
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| Private company limited by shares | |
| Industry | Coffee shops |
| Headquarters | London, England |
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Number of locations
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 1,017 (2019) |
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Key people
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| Products | |
| Revenue | £227.9 million GBP |
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Number of employees
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5,000 |
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Caffè Nero is a popular coffeehouse company that started in London, England. It was founded in 1990 by Ian Semp. Later, in 1997, Gerry Ford took over the company.
Today, Caffè Nero has more than 1,000 coffee shops. You can find them in many countries around the world. These include the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman, and the United States. In 2009, Caffè Nero even opened its own coffee roasting factory in London. This factory makes all the coffee for its shops worldwide.
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How Caffè Nero Started and Grew
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Caffè Nero began in 1990 with just one shop in South Kensington, London. Ian Semp opened a few more shops in London. Then, in 1997, he sold the company to Gerry Ford.
Gerry Ford introduced the special "Classico" coffee blend. This coffee has won awards for its great taste. The Classico blend is still served in every Caffè Nero shop today. They also offer other unique and special coffees.
In 2007, Caffè Nero expanded to Turkey. Over the years, it opened shops in many more countries. These include the UAE (2009), Poland (2012), Cyprus (2013), Ireland and the United States (2014), Croatia (2017), Oman (2018), and Sweden.
In 2013, experts from the magazine Which? tasted coffee from five big UK brands. Caffè Nero's coffee was rated the best-tasting!
Expanding to the United States
In 2014, Caffè Nero started opening shops in the United States, with the first one in Boston. The company wanted to offer a European-style coffee experience. This was different from the fast-service coffee shops common in America.
Gerry Ford, the founder, believed there was a market for high-quality coffee. He felt that the US market had room for a more premium coffee experience.
Growing the Caffè Nero Family
Caffè Nero has also bought other coffee businesses. In 2016, the company bought Harris + Hoole, which had 43 locations. In 2019, they bought most of Coffee#1, a chain with 100 shops in Wales and England. By 2022, Caffè Nero owned all of Coffee#1.
In 2019, Caffè Nero teamed up with the drink company Fever-Tree. They started selling two types of espresso and tonic drinks in their shops.
In October 2024, Caffè Nero bought Coffee 200° and FCB coffee. These purchases added more shops and brands to the Caffè Nero Group. By December 2024, Caffè Nero had opened a shop inside a John Lewis store. They also launched "Best of Both" cafes in some Waitrose stores. These cafes combine Caffè Nero's coffee with Waitrose's food.
Supporting Staff and Customers
In 2019, Caffè Nero created special support centers and helplines for its staff. This helped employees who needed assistance with living in the UK and understanding their worker rights during Brexit.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many businesses faced challenges. Caffè Nero offered free drinks to NHS staff starting in March 2020. This offer continued throughout the lockdown period.
After the pandemic, Caffè Nero saw a strong return in sales. In the financial year ending May 2022, sales in the UK grew by 65 percent. Worldwide sales for the group grew by 70 percent. They also partnered with delivery services to bring coffee and food to customers.
In August 2022, Caffè Nero received a Princess Royal Award. This award recognized their excellent workplace training programs for leaders. By January 2023, the company announced that its sales had returned to pre-pandemic levels. They served 7.8 million customers during the festive period.
In Spring 2024, Caffè Nero opened its first drive-through coffee shop. It is located at Stansted Airport. This new site offers both drive-through and drive-to services. It also has charging points for electric cars.
Nero Book Awards
In May 2023, Caffè Nero started an annual book award. This award celebrates great books by authors in the UK and Ireland. There are four categories: fiction, non-fiction, debut fiction (for first-time authors), and children's literature.
The first "Book of the Year" prize went to The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. In the second year, the famous author Bill Bryson led the judging panel. The journalist Emily Maitlis and Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo were also judges. Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst won the "Nero Book of the Year" award, along with a £50,000 prize.
See also
In Spanish: Caffè Nero para niños
- List of coffeehouse chains
