The brief
Millions depend on the hot jolt of java a perfect elixir to jumpstart their day. Coffee now an essential part of the busy fast life helps to keep us functioning and match the pace. In this age of quick fixes, a perfect flavorsome cup of coffee also will no longer need waiting. Costa Coffee plans to introduce ‘coffee on the go’.
Whitbread the parent company for Costa has acquired self-service coffee chain Coffee Nation and plans to launch a new brand, Costa Express, with a view to target the self-serve coffee bar sector.
Andy Harrison, the Chief executive of Whitbread comments, “Customers increasingly want great-tasting coffee on the go, which makes the self-serve coffee market very attractive.”
After achieving the status of UK's favorite coffee shop brand in 2010 by the Project Café10 research Costa started campaigning in the premise of quality offered by hand-made coffee, including also the claims “Save the world from mediocre coffee” and “7 of 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa”
The strategy
“Great Tasting Coffee on the Go”
Costa Express
“Great Tasting Coffee on the Go”
Costa Express
What would be the strategy for a leader on its market, operating 1.200 points of sale in the UK and a reported jump in profits of 43% on the last 6 months?
If you answered “ Shield their current position”, you are completely wrong, Costa Coffee wants more, much more…
Coming July the company plans to start the operation of Coffee Nation with about 900 coffee vending machines. Costa plans to rebrand all the existing self-service machines. This is being done with an aim to achieve a number of 3000 Costa Express units within the next 5 years. Coffee Nation has an annual turnover in excess of £20m, from Milestone Capital and Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance and members of the existing management team.
Targeting an annual market of 1.7 billion, the company is launching the new brand Costa Coffee, aimed at