Costa Coffee wins top coffee shop award

Jeffrey Young, managing director and founder of Allegra Strategies, said: "Costa thoroughly deserve this accolade, following an incredible 35 quarters of like for like growth. They have a clear focus on serving great coffee, backed up by strong marketing campaigns" John Derkach, managing director of Costa, said the award was for the company's staff: "This award is testament to the great people we have in every one of our stores. They strive to make great coffee, and offer fantastic service to all of our customers. It is great that our baristas have received this public recognition from 300 of the most influential leaders in the industry." With total sales growing at 33% year on year, and like for like sales up 9%, Costa has flourished in a recession which has claimed many victims in the industry. In a market where purchase has historically been driven by convenience rather than quality, Costa has challenged the way we think, buy and consume coffee. Led by a focus on continually improving product and service, Costa has employed independent taste tests to demonstrate that those who care about coffee prefer Costa. Now, 35% of the UK's adult population visit Costa – more than any other Coffee chain. Nominations for the award were made by more than 300 senior industry peers who took part in the Allegra European Coffee Leader Survey in August/September 2010. Findings from the survey are reported in Allegra's Project Cafe 10 Europe, which was published on November 4th.