Today Costa opens ‘Costa Fresco‘, a new food-led concept store in central London that sells porridge, pastries, salads, quiches and cakes in an attempt to attract more sales. If the store proves successful, more could be rolled out across the country.
“We really want to bring something different to the food market in London,” said Carol Welch, Costa‘s Global Director of Brand & Innovation. “The store will be similar to the traditional Costa stores, but will have much more of a food focus. All pastries, cakes and bread will be baked on site – our customers are telling us they want more, good quality food.”
Costa is bringing something new to the mix, something besides coffee which major players already offer. Those other large chains have been getting creative this year such as Starbucks which opened a theatrical ‘after-hours‘ store, Pret which introduced a fine dining evening menu in selected stores where the service becomes more like a restaurant after 6pm and Greggs which refreshed its healthy food options.
Since being acquired by Whitbread 20 years ago, Costa has become the largest coffee chain in the UK, (the store count is currently 1,582 stores).
