Cafes and Coffee Shops

The Cafes and Coffee Shops section on Catering Today explores the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the UK’s vibrant café and coffee sector. Covering independent operators, branded chains, and suppliers, it reports on store openings, menu innovation, sustainability initiatives, and shifts in consumer behaviour. With insights into operations, staffing, and technology, Catering Today provides hospitality professionals with up-to-date intelligence on the business strategies and market forces driving success in coffee-led hospitality.

Sep- 2018 -

3 September

Mille Patisserie to open Paddington site

Mille Patisserie has announced it is to open a new Paddington site this month offering the mille crepes made famous in London by Kova Patisserie. The mille crepe consists of layers of crepe and creme patisserie stacked together to form a cake. Ingredients for the company’s chocolate, lemon, matcha, and…
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Aug- 2018 -

31 August

Coca-Cola to acquire Costa Coffee from Whitbread for £3.9bn

Coca-Cola is to buy the coffee chain Costa from Whitbread in a £3.9bn deal. Whitbread, which acquired the brand in 1995 for £19m when it had only 39 outlets, had intended to spin off the chain as a separate business but the transaction was unanimously agreed by the Whitbread board…
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29 August

Bailiffs visited more than 200 firms daily over unpaid business rates

In the first year after the new business rates revaluation came into effect, councils sent bailiffs to more than 200 commercial properties everyday for unpaid rates. An investigation by real estate advisor Altus Group revealed that during 2017/18, over 81,000 business premises liable for rates were referred to bailiffs to…
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17 August

Business rates for English hospitality firms could rise to £50m, analysts say

Business rates for English hospitality companies could increase to £51.26m next April if inflation remains unchanged at 2.5%, according to real estate advisor Altus Group. Altus Group said next month could be “pivotal for the hospitality sector” as the upcoming Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation determines how business…
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7 August

Pret A Manger introduces genderless gingerbread men

Pret A Manger has decided to make its gingerbread men genderless and call them gingerbread biscuits instead. The decision was made after the sandwich chain’s CEO Clive Schlee received a letter from one of its customers, whose niece Annie asked why Pret only had gingerbread men. So far, the chain…
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3 August

Hospitality salaries hit a seven-month high, but majority feel underpaid

Average salaries for hospitality roles hit a six-month high in July, as pay increased by 6.1% month-on-month, above the national inflation rate of 2.3%. According to data from independent job board CV-Library found that salaries had grown consistently since January 2018. However, despite pay for hospitality roles seeing positive growth,…
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Jul- 2018 -

31 July

McDonald’s to trial brewed ‘barista coffee’

McDonald’s is to trial ‘barista coffee’ in two of its London restaurants with a view to rolling it out nationally. The branches in St Paul’s and Oxford Street will employ baristas who will brew coffee as opposed to using a machine as McDonald’s currently does. McDonald’s has previously been scathing…
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31 July

Late-night customers account for 83% of British foodservice growth

British people visit food or beverage outlets 257 million times between midnight and 7am every year, according to new figures. The data, released by market research firm, The NPD Group, for the year ending May 2018 suggested that the growing demand for late-night and early morning food and beverages consumed…
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30 July

Starbucks launches 5p cup charge in UK

Starbucks is rolling out a 5p paper cup charge in all 950 UK stores, following a three-month trial in London. The company has added the 5p charge to all beverages served in a plastic cup, and customers who bring a reusable cup in-store will be eligible for the existing 25p…
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12 July

Pret to open outlet run by former homeless staff

Sandwich chain Pret A Manger has announced plans to open an outlet run by staff who were once homeless. Pret has run a ‘Rising Stars’ programme for 10 years, where it trains people who are homeless in an effort to break the cycle of homelessness. In a blog written by…
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