Costa Coffee, Starbucks, and Pret a Manger are the three biggest players in the British ready-to drink coffee market. But there’s another company that wants to provide caffeine on the move.
Nespresso is the coffee capsules brand that George Clooney and David Beckham promote. It will open its first coffee shop for on-the-go customers on Thursday, after an earlier attempt five years ago was abandoned.
Nestle’s subsidiary, the largest food company in the world, will launch its “Nespresso Bar” concept on Old Broad Street in London, near Liverpool Street Station.
Anna Lundstrom is the chief executive of Nespresso UK. She said that the test will be the first ever in Europe, but “ultimately, we would like to have different cafes across the city or country”. She did not specify the number of branches.
Nespresso, founded in Switzerland in 1986, sells coffee capsules and machines for both home and business use. The company now has more than 800 stores in 76 different countries, and about 13,000 employees.
Lundstrom stated that the company wished to capitalize on the coffee boom in Britain. While we are focused on home coffee, the British love their coffee on-the-go. She said that there is a cultural phenomenon surrounding coffee shops and coffee on the go.
Last year, coffee overtook tea to become Britain’s favorite drink. According to the British Coffee Association (BCA), people in the UK consume about 98 millions cups of coffee per day.
The UK is home to thousands of coffee shops, as well as fast food chains like McDonald’s and Greggs.
The “affordable-luxury” status of coffee has helped to protect the sector from the crisis. According to Project Cafe UK, the UK’s branded coffee shops market grew by 9.2 percent in the last 12 months. However, this was partially due to price increases.
In 2016 and 2017, Nespresso opened 2 sit-down cafes near the Bank of England in London in the 100 Cheapside Development and in Soho. The cafes were opened after the first one in Vienna was a success. However, the company closed them in 2019 in order to concentrate on its boutiques.
The new bar will have limited seating as it has been designed for “in and out”. The company will be using its commercial Aguila 440 Aguila coffee machines that use Nespresso capsules. They can produce 400 coffees per hour. Five blends are available.
A hot latte costs £4.15, compared to £4.40 for Costa Coffee, £4.15 for Starbucks and £4.05 for Pret a Manger.
Nespresso selected Liverpool Street as the UK’s busiest station, according to December statistics provided by the Office of Rail and Road. Opening of the Elizabeth Line played a major role in the increase of almost 50 million people who entered and left Liverpool Street between April 1st, 2022 and March 31st, 2023.