A Coffee#1 store in Leek, Staffordshire | Photo credit: Coffee#1

UK-based Coffee#1 continues to trade strongly, with iced coffee and food contributing to strong half-year sales growth.
 

The Cardiff-based coffee chain, which was fully acquired by Caffè Nero Group in February 2022, achieved 19% year-on-year sales growth in the six months ended 30 November 2023 to reach £29.5m ($37.3m), with like-for-like sales rising 8%. 

Managing Director Bruce Newman credited Coffee#1’s in-store and support teams as driving the brand’s ‘excellent’ results, with growing iced coffee and food sales yielding higher average customer spend.  

Coffee#1’s full espresso-based coffee menu is available cold, either blended or poured over ice. The coffee chain’s uptick in cold beverage sales chimes with World Coffee Portal research, which shows increasing year-round popularity for cold coffee in the UK.

Coffee#1 opened four new stores during the period to reach 118 outlets. Two further stores in Derby and Fleet opened in December 2023 and January 2024, with additional sites in Bournemouth and Loughborough currently under construction. 

“While inflationary pressures remain, we are optimistic that our brand has broad appeal and expect to see sales build over the course of the remainder of the year,” Newman said. 

Despite increased price consciousness among UK consumers amid the cost-of-living crisis, World Coffee Portal research found that more than three quarters % of UK coffee chain operators surveyed achieved positive sales growth last year. 

Project Café UK 2024 shows the total UK branded coffee shop market stands at approximately 10,200 outlets and is forecast to exceed 10,500 outlets by the end of 2024.