The UK-based coffee chain says its Deliveroo, Just Eat and Waitrose partnerships strongly contributed to half-year sales reaching 104% of pre-pandemic levels
.jpg.aspx?lang=en-GB&width=700&height=467)
Caffè Nero said UK sales grew 17% year-on-year to reach £150m ($186m) | Photo credit: Alexander London
Caffè Nero has posted strong trading across the UK for the first six months of its 2023 financial year, boosted by new delivery and retail partnerships.
Reporting on the six months ended 30 November 2022, the coffee chain said UK sales grew 17% year-on-year to reach £150m ($186m), averaging 104% of pre-pandemic levels.
The company added Deliveroo and Just Eat to its existing partnership with Uber Eats last year to generate £3.5m ($4.3m) of revenue via its delivery channel.
Additionally, Caffè Nero reported sales of £1.5m ($1.9m) for its Coffee At Home business, supported by a new strategic partnership with Waitrose and the continued strong performance of its Amazon, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and Ambassador Theatre Group retail partnerships.
As an indication of sales momentum, Caffè Nero also reported sales during December 2022 reaching 110% of pre-pandemic levels, a 9.5% like-for-like increase compared to December 2021.
“We’ve seen a very encouraging first half of our financial year. Despite significant inflationary pressures which have continued to mount since June, we have demonstrated strong cost control and delivered solid sales growth. We traded at 110% of pre-pandemic sales in December and had record weekly sales. That is a testament to the hard work and outstanding service from our store teams as well as a very well received Christmas menu with our customers. We expect to see sales continue to improve further over the coming weeks and months,” said Gerry Ford, Founder and CEO, Caffè Nero Group.
Caffè Nero opened seven new stores in the UK during the reporting period to reach 610 outlets.
The coffee chain operates more than 1,000 stores across 10 countries globally, with like-for-like group revenues increasing 20% to reach £231m ($286m).
Founded in 1997, Caffè Nero is the largest independent coffee house group in Europe. It is the third largest coffee-focused operator in the UK, behind Costa Coffee and Starbucks, and seventh largest in terms of outlets across Europe.
The company achieved full-year 2022 group revenues of £389m ($482m), 70% higher than in 2021. Covering the 12 months ended 31 May 2022, Caffè Nero reported UK sales increasing 65% to £254m ($314m), which Ford described as ‘a period of recovery’ for the business.