Costa Coffee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Costa Coffee | |
 |
|
| Type | Public owned by Whitbread Plc |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | |
| Key people | Sergio and Bruno Costa (Founder) |
| Area served | United Kingdom,South Asia, Middle East |
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Products | coffee, small snacks and soft drinks |
| Website | http://www.costa.co.uk/ |
Costa Coffee is a coffee house company based in the United Kingdom founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops.
Since its first beginings the company has branched out and has since been bought by Whitbread Plc.
Contents |
[edit] History
Bruno & Sergio Costa set up their coffee roastery in Lambeth, London in 1971, supplying local caterers and Italian coffee shops with their slow-roasted blend. Costa branched out to retailing coffee in 1978, when their first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, England. Later, they sold the business to Whitbread.
Costa Coffee as of 2006 is now the new sponsor of Whitbread Book Awards, which will now be called the Costa Book Awards.
[edit] Retail Branches
Their branch since 1971 has now grown to over 300 Costa stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including airport outlets and sub-stores within Ottakar's, Waterstone's bookstores, W. H. Smith and Homebase stores, Abbey banks and Marriott Hotels.
Costa Coffee also have branches in the Middle East such as Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Emirates and have launched in South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan. The biggest store in South Asia however has been opened in Zamzama Karachi which is a double story building.
[edit] Coffee production
Unlike any other coffee maker in the UK costa have their own roastery and employ the only three Italian Master Roasters in the UK. The blend that is served in retail stores is known as "Mocha Italia" as is a unique blend of six parts aricaba beans and one part robusta beans.[1]
The coffee machines Costa use are also unique to the company and have been refined over 20 years in consultation with their three Italian Master Roasters.[2]
