Caffè Nero ‘on the road to recovery’ as sales reach 87% of 2019 levels

Caffè Nero's neighbourhood stores in the UK have nearly recovered to pre-pandemic sales levels, but inner city and travel hub locations have been slower to rebound | Photo credit: Caffè Nero

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Caffè Nero appears to be regaining significant momentum after reporting overall UK stores sales have recovered to 87% of 2019 levels.

The coffee chain said sales at its neighbourhood, high street and out-of-town stores had already virtually recovered to pre-pandemic levels. However, highlighting an international trend, Caffè Nero’s city centre and travel hub stores were recovering more slowly.

Nevertheless, the company anticipates overall sales to reach 90% of pre-pandemic levels by November 2021.
 
The coffee chain credited the lifting of UK government trading restrictions and recently implemented improvements to the business for achieving revenues of £15m during June-August 2021, the first quarter of its financial year.
 
Further positive news for Caffè Nero included 200% like-for-like sales growth through its delivery partnership with UberEats and an announcement that the coffee chain has now repaid debts accumulated during the pandemic.
 
“We are coming back. Not there yet, but Caffè Nero is on the road to recovey,” said Caffè Nero Founder and Group CEO Gerry Ford.
 
The positive sales results will be welcome news for Caffè Nero, which was hit hard by pandemic trading restrictions and temporary store closures. The company has also resisted sustained takeover attempts by petrol station forecourt operator EG Group, which was reported to have purchased £140m of the coffee chain’s debt in late 2020 in a bid to take control of the company.

Caffè Nero operates around 650 stores in its native UK market as well as an interntional portfolio of stores across Europe, the US and the Middle East.