Café / Coffee Bar

In 1971, Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa started a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Drawing on their Italian background and Sergio's experience of blending and roasting coffee in Parma, the brothers established Costa's unique roasting style. Beans were slow roasted at reduced temperatures to produce a fuller, less bitter flavour and a specially developed espresso blend was created of six parts arabica and one part robusta to create Costa's unique taste. Both the roasting process and their special blend Mocha Italia are mainstays of the Costa business today.

The Costa brothers opened the first Costa store in London in 1978 and growth expanded at the rate of two stores per year with the help of their family and friends in the business. In 1988, the roasting operation moved to Old Paradise Street in Lambeth, London, where the roaster and green beans (those waiting to be roasted) are stored.

Developments such as the new roaster were crucial to Costa. With huge growth over the 1990's the company had increased to 186 stores by 1999 and in 2000, 3.7 million cups of coffee were sold each week.

Costa has over 300 stores across the UK and host units in a number of complimentary retail outlets including selected Ottakers and Waterstones bookstores, WHSmith and Homebase stores and Marriott Hotels.

Unit 6
Coming Soon
www.costa.co.uk