Press release -
Costa Reveals Sneak Preview Of New ‘Paradise Street’ Roastery
Costa, the UK’s favourite coffee shop, is on track for its £38 million coffee roastery in Basildon to open in 2017 and has today revealed a sneak preview of how the new facility will look.
The release of this video comes just after the publication of a CBRE study which found the number of coffee shop chains has increased almost 20 fold in the past 17 years. Costa is expanding rapidly to meet this growing demand for its great tasting blends. Last year Costa’s sales were up by over 15% and almost 200 new stores were opened. The CGI video shows how the new roastery is all set to reflect this expansion - when finished it will be the size of 30 tennis courts!
The video animation shows how the ‘Paradise Street’ roastery will be a state-of-the-art facility and gives a glimpse of what goes into a creating a factory capable of producing 45,000 tonnes of coffee a year, with the aim of being one of the only buildings in the world to achieve ‘outstanding’ sustainability credentials from BREEAM to the latest 2014 standards.
The 21st century roastery will combine traditional roasting techniques with the very best of sophisticated, modern roasting equipment specifically designed to seal in the oils and aromas that create Costa’s unbeatable signature Mocha Italia blend.
More than just roasting great coffee it will drive Costa into the future with everything from bays for charging electric cars to solar panels generating 244,000 KWH of clean and green electricity.
The facility, set to open early 2017, brings together sophistication and modernity with all the tradition and heritage that has made Costa so popular. The new roastery’s location in the South East of England shows Costa’s commitment to remaining a UK business and to continuing to roast the same irresistible Mocha Italia blend first produced by the Costa brothers in 1971 in Lambeth, London.
Christopher Rogers, Managing Director for Costa, said:
“Progress so far on-site in Basildon has been sensational and this fantastic sneak preview of the facility shows just why we are all so excited for our new ‘Paradise Street’ roastery. Producing the delicious coffee that our customers enjoy around the world is the cornerstone of our business and that’s why we are investing £38 million to build the new roastery.
Basildon is set to become the centre of our UK business network – sustainably grown coffee beans will land in the UK and travel the short distance from Tilbury Docks in Essex to our new roastery. The project is such a fantastic opportunity for us to drive investment into the Basildon area and we look forward to being part of the local community.”
The new roastery is set to open in early 2017 and a preview can be viewed here.
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Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, our quality coffee was the premium choice for boutique hotels and restaurants across the city. Today we continue to roast the original Mocha Italia recipe in Old Paradise Street, London with our 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee remaining at the core of our quality coffee credentials.
With over 2,000 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,240 in 31 overseas markets, we are the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK. We’re proud to be the UK’s favourite coffee shop, having been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for six years running (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & December 2015).
Our people are the heart of our business and we employ over 30,000 people worldwide, with a target of 5,000 new jobs in the UK by 2020. Last year, we increased Barista pay by c.10%. Our Pay for progression model was introduced in October 2015, and our training rate of £7.20 was launched well ahead of National Living Wage.
As a popular, mainstream food and beverage brand, we can make a positive contribution towards customer health and wellbeing by investing in safe sourcing, new product development and consumer education. Health and wellbeing remains a strategic business focus area and we will continue to evolve our product offer over the coming years. We are working to reduce added sugar in our drinks by 25% by 2020 and will reduce salt in our sandwich range by a further 5% by 2017.
We care about the communities we operate in with our store teams volunteering over 10,000 hours of their time to lend support to over 900 local community projects.
Looking after coffee growers is extremely important to us, which is why we established The Costa Foundation, a registered charity with the aim to relieve poverty, advance education and the health and environment of coffee-growing communities around the world. So far, The Costa Foundation has funded the building of 53 schools and improved the social and economic welfare of coffee-growing communities.
