Costa Coffee’s UK recovery boosts Cola-Cola’s annual sales

The reopening of Costa Coffee stores in the UK has boosted Coca-Cola's Global Ventures Group business | Photo credit: Costa Coffee 

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Reporting its full-year results to 31 December 2022 Coca-Cola saw net revenues grow 10% in the final quarter to $9.5bn and 17% in the full year $38.7bn.
 
Coca-Cola’s Global Ventures Group, which manages its Costa Coffee retail business, saw net revenues grow 27% for final quarter to $78m – a rise “primarily driven by the ongoing reopening of Costa retail stores in the United Kingdom.”
 
The Atlanta-based beverage giant also highlighted that the final quarter saw its away-from-home segment was ahead of 2019 levels.
 
Although trading conditions continue to vary around the world, Coca-Cola highlighted that the company’s performance was performance was driven by “ongoing, asynchronous recovery in many markets and the company’s ability to better adapt to successive waves of the pandemic."
 
“In 2021, our system demonstrated resilience and flexibility by successfully navigating through another year of uncertainty,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.

“We focused on our key strategies and emerged stronger. We are confident that progress on our strategic transformation has made us a nimbler total beverage company. While the environment remains dynamic, we will build on the momentum from 2021 to drive topline growth and maximise returns.”
 
The positive results for Costa Coffee, the UK’s largest coffee chain, reflect a wider branded coffee chain market recovery identified by World Coffee Portal data. In January 2022, Project Café UK 2022 revealed the UK's £4.4bn ($6bn) branded coffee shop market grew 43% over the last 12 months to regain 87% of pre-pandemic market value with outlet numbers now exceeding 2019 levels. 
 
Nevertheless, UK hospitality businesses face significant headwinds in the year ahead, with the planned reinstatement of VAT to 20%, rising inflation and severe staff shortages all impacting sales margins.