COSTA COFFEE: STRATEGIES OF ALLIANCES

In 1999, Costa Coffee established its first international franchise partner with ELR. They opened the first Costa Coffee store abroad, in Dubai.

In 2005, Costa coffee was the first international coffee chain to enter in India under a licence agreement with Devyani International, “the fastest growing, and customer centric, profitable player in the Indian retail F&B sector”.

In order to set up Coffee store in China, Costa made a joint venture in 2006 with the Yueda Group (that has worked with the French Carrefour group) based in Jiangsu Province. This partnership allows Costa Coffee to benefit from the knowledge of the local market and customers. Thus, the success of Costa depends on the Yueda Group.

In 2007, Costa Coffee signed another joint venture with the Beijing Hualian Group, a Chinese retailer. Both parties established the Hualian Costa Catering Management Co., Ltd. The plan was to open 300 coffee stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, North east China and other region.

In 2011, Costa coffee partners with HP in India. A free cappuccino is offered to customers who purchase the HP ink cartridge rewards. Once they have chosen the reward they want, they need to present the voucher at Costa Coffee while placing the order to get their free drink.

In 2012, Costa Cofee became partners with Elior, the French leader in the market regarding catering in train stations.Thus, Elior has opened the first Costa Cofee in France, in the Lyon Station. 

In 2012, Costa coffee partners with Kraft to launch a range of “at home coffee”. Three Costa’s recipes are used in Kraft’s Tassimo coffee machines. These capsules are sold in national retailers and in Costa stores.

Article written by Elsa Bertrand