History
Bruno and Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Fenchurch Street, London, in 1971, supplying local caterers. The family had moved to England from Parma, Italy, in the 1950s.[7][8] Costa branched out to selling coffee and opened their first store in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London in 1981.[9]
By 1995, the Costa Coffee chain had 41 stores in UK,[10] and was acquired by Whitbread, the UK's largest hotel and coffee shop operator, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2009, Costa opened its 1,000th store, in Cardiff. In December 2009, Costa Coffee agreed to acquire the Polish chain Coffeeheaven for £36million, adding 79 stores in central and eastern Europe.[11]
The company's products (such as its coffee and drinks) were sold in Brewers Fayre and Beefeater until it was subsequently purchased by the Coca-Cola Company from Whitbread.
In 2018, Whitbread faced pressure from two of its largest shareholders, activist group Elliott Advisers and hedge fund Sachem Head, to sell or demerge Costa Coffee, the theory being that the individual businesses would be worth much more than the one company alone.[12] On 25 April 2018, Whitbread announced its intention to fully demerge Costa within two years.[13] On 3 January 2019 the Coca-Cola Company purchased Costa Coffee for $4.9 billion.[14]
In March 2020, all UK coffee shops were closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In late May some branches reopened for takeaway or drive-through orders.[15] In 2022, Costa Coffee discontinued the Costa Book Awards that Whitbread had started 51 years earlier.[16] At the end of July 2022 Jill McDonald stepped down as CEO of the company,[17] and was succeeded by Philippe Schaillee in April 2023.[18]
In August 2025, it was reported that Coca-Cola was exploring the sale of Costa due to sharply rising costs and competition. Coca-Cola would, however, keep its canned coffee range.[19][20]
