Costa Coffee facts for kids
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Trade name
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Costa Coffee |
|---|---|
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Formerly
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C. B. Costa Bros. Coffee Co. Limited (1976–1997) |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Coffee shop |
| Founded |
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| Founder | Sergio Costa |
| Headquarters | Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England |
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Number of locations
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 4,000 (2025) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Philippe Schaillee (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Revenue | £1.168 billion (2016) |
| £153 million (2016) |
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| Parent | The Coca-Cola Company (2019–present) |
Costa Coffee is a very popular coffee shop chain. It started in London, England, and now has its main office in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire. You can find Costa Coffee shops in the United Kingdom and many other countries around the world.
The company was started in 1971 by Sergio Costa. At first, it sold roasted coffee beans to other businesses. Later, it grew into a big chain of coffee shops. In 1995, a company called Whitbread bought Costa Coffee. Then, in January 2019, The Coca-Cola Company bought it for a lot of money.
Costa Coffee has grown a lot since then. It has over 4,000 stores in many countries. It is the second largest coffee shop chain in the world and the biggest one in the UK.
Contents
History of Costa Coffee
Sergio Costa started his coffee business in London in 1971. His family had moved to England from Italy in the 1950s. He began by roasting coffee and selling it to local restaurants and cafes.
In 1981, Costa Coffee opened its very first coffee shop in London. By 1995, there were 41 Costa Coffee shops in the UK. That year, Whitbread bought the company. Whitbread was a large company that owned hotels and coffee shops.
Costa Coffee continued to grow. In 2009, it opened its 1,000th store in Cardiff. It also bought a Polish coffee chain called Coffeeheaven, adding more stores in Europe.
In 2018, Whitbread decided to sell Costa Coffee. On January 3, 2019, The Coca-Cola Company bought Costa Coffee for $4.9 billion.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, all Costa Coffee shops in the UK closed for a while. Later, some shops reopened for takeaway and drive-through orders. In 2022, Costa Coffee stopped sponsoring the Costa Book Awards, which Whitbread had started many years before. A new CEO, Philippe Schaillee, took over in April 2023.
What Costa Coffee Sells
Costa Coffee shops sell many different things. They offer hot and cold drinks, like coffee, tea, and iced drinks. You can also buy sandwiches, cakes, pastries, and other snacks.
In 2020, Costa Coffee worked with some famous chocolate brands like Quality Street and After Eight. They created special limited-edition Christmas drinks.
Costa Coffee has a large place where they roast their coffee beans. In May 2017, they moved their roastery to Basildon, Essex. This new place is much bigger and can roast a lot more coffee each year.
Costa Coffee even has a special coffee taster named Gennaro Pelliccia. His job is to taste the coffee and make sure it's perfect. He even had his tongue insured for a lot of money!
In 2020, Costa Coffee also started selling canned coffee and iced coffee drinks that you can buy in stores.
How Costa Coffee Works
Looking After Employees
In 2019, there were some concerns about how employees were treated at certain Costa Coffee franchise stores. Costa Coffee said that these stores were managed by other companies, not directly by Costa. They also said they would look into the claims.
Costa Coffee stated that an independent review was started to check on these issues.
Where to Find Costa Coffee
As of October 2019, Costa Coffee had 2,467 shops in the United Kingdom. They also had 1,413 stores in 32 other countries around the world. The very first Costa store outside the UK opened in the United Arab Emirates in 1999.
Costa Coffee's main office is in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, UK. Their large coffee roasting facility is in Basildon, Essex.
Costa Express Machines
Costa Coffee also has special coffee machines called Costa Express. These machines are found in many places like hospitals, universities, and train stations. You can also find them in some petrol stations, like Shell stations in Denmark and SPAR stores in the UK.
In July 2023, a Costa Express van featured a design that celebrated inclusivity. Costa Coffee defended the art, saying it showed how the company supports everyone.
Costa Coffee Around the World
As of January 2022, Costa Coffee was available in 38 countries across four continents. This means they had a total of 3,884 locations worldwide.
Costa Book Awards
Costa Book Awards were a set of awards given to great books. Costa Coffee sponsored these awards from 2006. However, on June 10, 2022, Costa Coffee announced that they would no longer be the sponsor.
See also
In Spanish: Costa Coffee para niños
- List of coffeehouse chains
