The UK coffee chain’s local franchisee ISR Holdings plans to open 30 Costa Coffee stores in Azerbaijan within five years, primarily focused on the capital city’s high footfall shopping malls
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Rauf Khalilov (left), ISR Director and Gordon Mowat (right), Costa Coffee Managing Director for Europe and the Middle East | Photo credit: ISR Holding
UK-based coffee chain Costa Coffee is set to open its first store in Azerbaijan at the Globus Centre shopping mall in Baku.
In November 2022, Costa Coffee signed a franchise agreement with Azerbaijani investment management company ISR Holding to launch in the country.
A joint statement by Gordon Mowat, Costa Coffee’s Managing Director for Europe and the Middle East, and ISR Holding Director Rauf Khalilov outlined plans to open 30 Costa Coffee stores in the country within five years, primarily focused on the capital city Baku, the nation’s key commercial hub.
Following the opening at the Globus Centre, ISR also plans to open Costa Coffee stores at the Port Baku Mall, Deniz Mall, Nargiz Mall and Najlik Mall shopping centres.
Founded in 1971, Costa Coffee operates nearly 2,800 coffee shops in the UK & Ireland and more than 1,100 globally.
The coffee chain has sought to scale its European presence in recent months. In November 2022 Costa Coffee opened its first outlet in neighbouring Georgia, in partnership with Turkish catering company BTA Food & Services.
Costa Coffee also partnered with France’s Lagardére Travel Retail to enter Austria with a store at Vienna Airport before awarding the travel retailer master franchise rights for its 142 stores in Poland and Latvia in February 2023.
Outside of Europe, Costa Coffee utlised the local market knowledge of its Karachi-based franchisee Gerry’s Group to launch its first stores in Pakistan at the start of this year and announced its planned ‘full-scale entry into Japan’s café market’ via a partnership with Sojitz Royal Café in March 2023.
World Coffee Portal research shows the 42-store Azerbaijani branded coffee shop market comprises solely of international chains. The market is led by Gloria Jean’s, which has nine outlets, followed by Second Cup and Starbucks, which operate six stores in the country respectively.
The total market is projected to reach 57 outlets by 2028.