# The world is being overtaken with Costa coffee shops



## wmoore (Dec 19, 2012)

My home town of Gloucester is to have it's ninth Costa.

The Citizen

Penny Mairoudhiou, a spokeswoman for Costa, said: "As the UK's favourite coffee shop and one of the success stories on the UK high street, we work closely with planning departments across the country to open new stores for the benefit of their local communities, creating new jobs and providing attractive and popular social meeting places.

Shame about the coffee.


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## SimonB (Sep 12, 2013)

Could be worse, could have been another Starbucks!


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Is it because the other 8 are so sh1t?

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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

How many of the others are Costa Express'? Every Shell petrol station and Tesco/One Stop store seems to have one of those in now and they're everywhere.


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

Their 9th coffee shop and what a prime location for a beverage at the end of Kings Walk. Must be a joy to look over at the CEX store, the abandoned Easter egg building and the delightful Crumpton Oak swigging Chavs in the Kings Sq concrete eyesore.


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

Geordie Boy said:


> How many of the others are Costa Express'? Every Shell petrol station and Tesco/One Stop store seems to have one of those in now and they're everywhere.


I'm sure they are all Costa shops. Glos'ter folk must love a drop of Costa!

Will be changing county name to Costashire soon!


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

It amuses me how often you see people toting around their 'coffee to go' cups from the chains. I've come to the opinion it's one of the many ersatz life 'enhancing' experiences that have become so commonplace - where taste and quality are the least important elements of the experience.


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Just looked on the Costa website and there indeed appears to be 8 cafes there already with the same amount of Express outlets!


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

I feel your pain

Norwich is about to get it's 19th Tesco :/


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Don't forget that One Stop is owned by Tesco as well and they're breeding like rabbits round by me


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Geordie Boy said:


> Don't forget that One Stop is owned by Tesco as well and they're breeding like rabbits round by me


Yeah we have a few One Stop's here that were former Dillon's, not sure if the current 18 includes them or not (it was from the evening news which is known for its spelling mistakes, terrible stories and just generally pathetic at being a credible paper)

Surprisingly very few people realise Tesco own One Stop though as you say.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

The Systemic Kid said:


> It amuses me how often you see people toting around their 'coffee to go' cups from the chains. I've come to the opinion it's one of the many ersatz life 'enhancing' experiences that have become so commonplace - where taste and quality are the least important elements of the experience.


I think we need to remember that for most people Costa tastes pretty good. When you compare it to the coffee from a vending machine or instant or starbucks actually Costa is a pretty nice coffee. I have said this before on this forum, but if I am left with a choice of the high street chains then Costa is usually the safest bet.

Compare it to anyone half capable with fresh beans and a classic and it tastes rank, but the vast majority of people dont know this.

I think taste is an important contributing factor, for most folks it tastes good.


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> I think we need to remember that for most people Costa tastes pretty good. When you compare it to the coffee from a vending machine or instant or starbucks actually Costa is a pretty nice coffee. I have said this before on this forum, but if I am left with a choice of the high street chains then Costa is usually the safest bet.
> 
> Compare it to anyone half capable with fresh beans and a classic and it tastes rank, but the vast majority of people dont know this.
> 
> I think taste is an important contributing factor, for most folks it tastes good.


I agree, I see Costa constantly lambasted on here but for me I still find them the best available on most high streets. There may well be better independent shops but unless I try everyone and drink a lot of rubbish in the process I won't know. Costa is at least a known reasonable drink and most of the time I'd rather settle for that than risk an unknown shop and get something I can't even drink. I'd certainly choose a Costa over Charbucks any day of the week !

Marcus

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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

It's interesting , they clearly at head office level want to deliver a good coffee experience, as pointed out before consistency in franchises is difficult to manage .

Could they try and educate people a little better about coffee? By this I mean get people to try smaller milk drinks with more freshly roasted beans, it would be a scary step to take when the model to follow was originally Starbucks. At least they don't have the horrid bean 2 cup machines.

It's not always coffee that pulls people in , in Lancaster the franchises are battling over who can have the most chairs outside on the pavement to get the coffee and smokers in . The place is jammed with chairs full of people chuffing on cigs. How much they can taste of bit coffee flavours would be debatable.

The flip is that Priory Hall cafe ( Atkinson s ) , continues to seem to do well, I go in there most days , and new people are always interested and asking questions about what a syphon is etc. it's great to to hear their initial reservations slide . First they get a cappuccino , it's a lot smaller than they are used to .then they taste and you hear them cooing over the difference. It helps that they have an on sight bakery making great and appealing fresh cakes too.

Whenever any tourist ask me where to go for coffee , I send them there , it's my little piece of good work for the day .

In the end costa are driven by profit , and I don't think will ever be daring enough to deliver great coffee, I'd rather take the chance on an indie ,try what they have , if there heart is in the right place it's a start. Keeping going to costa simply allows them to believe their model is right for everyone and not dare to change what they do , try something different and better . Just because you know what that you are going to get something not as bad as Starbucks doesn't mean you should support them .....


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

Every company is driven by profit. If you don't turn a good profit you go bust. It doesn't matter whether it's coffee, golf clubs or paper clips.

I can't help but agree with the comments about Costa not being the devil everyone likes to portray them as. Yes, the small indys are the ones worth seeking out and I like to support these businesses in any walk of life, but you are lucky that living in Lancaster you have a place like Atkinsons. I live in Bolton and if you went into any indy coffeeshop there you would be appalled as they churn out a 10 second gusher then add the burnt milk that's been screaming in the jug for an eternity. If you sampled any of these independent coffee havens as your first foray into "proper coffee" you'd go running back to Costa and never go anywhere else again. It's common for people that have a really, really good indy on their doorstep to think that they are all places where people sit around discussing syphons and extraction times, unfortunately the reality is quite different in large parts of the country.

In my local Costa in comparison, I was talking to the barista and he knew the tamp pressure, temp, extraction time ( although he said it was policy to extract for 20 secs) and the right milk temp and always uses a thermometer to achieve the right temp. Ok, the beans aren't the freshest but this is light years ahead of the local competition.


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

Costa used to have some nice shops in pleasant locations, but now want any run down unit in a place you would not want to sit down and watch the world go by!


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

That's why cafe Corretto get my bucks, as well as decent coffee and cakes.


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## painty (Jul 25, 2011)

Malvern independent cafes are currently petitioning to prevent the first Costa in the town. There's already a Nero which usually looks packed, so I guess it would do well. I suppose the chains appear more 'sophisticated' than traditional tearooms and so attract a different crowd.


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## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

I think it was recognised that Starbucks used to flood areas with too many of their shops, often making losses in some of their stores, to drive competition out of the area.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I agree Cold War kid , every company is driven by profit ( apart from non profit co operatives ) , it depends on how much the profit motive drives your company .Do you want to make the maximum money and give the customer great product and service , or are you prepared to make one less pence in £ to make sure you have motivated , knowledgable staff, paid more than minimum wage , delivering a great product and service .

It is weird how larger palaces don't see, to be able to deliver good indie coffee shops . Why would it be that Bolton , considerably bigger than Lancaster , doesn't have one . When I used to live in Nottingham there wasn't a decent indie there either (may have changed now )

Neil's point is excellent re Starbucks , but part of the massive problems that rents and business rates are too high, trust me I know , I pay em for a business.

While landlords still have control with long leases ,upwards rent reviews ,coupled with extortionate business rates from councils , it makes it very difficult for a sole trader to start up in a good location. While chains such as costa and charity shops. ( Who get rent and business rate relief i think ) fill the vacant slots , there isn't sufficient downward pressure on landlords to agree reasonable mid term lets , for small business. Plus larger chains can agree discounts based upon space agreed with larger landlords in an area or in uk etc.

There that's put the world to rights ... Ill shut up now .


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Simple question - why can't places like Costa use freshly roasted beans? We expect the big supermarkets to sell fresh not long dated vegetables and some make a point of sourcing local produce and showcasing it? Wouldn't it be great if the big coffee chains did the same with coffee?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Simple question - why can't places like Costa use freshly roasted beans? We expect the big supermarkets to sell fresh not long dated vegetables and some make a point of sourcing local produce and showcasing it? Wouldn't it be great if the big coffee chains did the same with coffee?


Absolutely agree they dont Because it would dent the profit , they would be more wastage if they threw beans away after a certain date . Whenever anyone comes on here we extol the virtues of fresh beans as an absolute must.


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Simple question - why can't places like Costa use freshly roasted beans? We expect the big supermarkets to sell fresh not long dated vegetables and some make a point of sourcing local produce and showcasing it? Wouldn't it be great if the big coffee chains did the same with coffee?


Because as long as it's freshly ground that's enough "fresh" for the average consumer.

I was made to go into costa today, I was surprised at the volume of the drinks available....

While I didn't order anything, I can't say the drinks were appealing to me at all...


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Think also that the big chains rely on customers being more tolerant taste wise. I'm old enough to remember when the only tomato you could get for most of the year were tasteless Dutch ones that were orange rather than red - truly awful. The same could be said of cheese - sweaty bland cheddar. Same again with bread - bland and little choice. 30 years later and it's a different story. Customer dissatisfaction led to huge leaps forward in quality, taste and variety. So things can change. Anyone remember Smiths crisps with the blue bag of salt? They were invariably soft when you bought a packet but got away with it for so long because they were the only player. Then Golden Wonder came along delivering crisps that were actually crisp. Where are Smiths now?


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Don't forget that using freshly roasted beans would result in the product being exposed to a different taste depending on the season. That's not generally seen as a good thing for a mass market product where consistency is the goal.

In my view there's parallels with the beer industry. Think of Costa as the John Smiths of the beer world... it always tastes the same but is bland


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Kyle548 said:


> Because as long as it's freshly ground that's enough "fresh" for the average consumer.


Exactly. If customers weren't so tolerant and voted with their feet, 'fresh' just might begin to refer to the roast date.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Exactly. If customers weren't so tolerant and voted with their feet, 'fresh' just might begin to refer to the roast date.


And there we have it, I am intolerant and vote with my feet , yes I realise I am lucky enough to have somewhere good to go to , but if I didn't , I wouldn't pay for something I consider mediocre .


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

One must also remember, they are constantly bombarded with messages telling them that Costa is the best and the freshest and know nothing else.

Even an Englishman born in China can't speak English naturally.


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Where are Smiths now?


The brand disappeared when they got taken over by Pepsico who favoured the Walkers brand. The same with Tudor Crisps.

....Ignore me, I'm just bitter 'cos Tudor Crisps were the bees knees!


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Think also that the big chains rely on customers being more tolerant taste wise. I'm old enough to remember when the only tomato you could get for most of the year were tasteless Dutch ones that were orange rather than red - truly awful. The same could be said of cheese - sweaty bland cheddar. Same again with bread - bland and little choice. 30 years later and it's a different story. Customer dissatisfaction led to huge leaps forward in quality, taste and variety. So things can change. Anyone remember Smiths crisps with the blue bag of salt? They were invariably soft when you bought a packet but got away with it for so long because they were the only player. Then Golden Wonder came along delivering crisps that were actually crisp. Where are Smiths now?


The good old 70's. Crisp packets with blue salt bags, Austin Ellegro's & bacon rashers with bones in it.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

glevum said:


> The good old 70's. Crisp packets with blue salt bags, Austin Ellegro's & bacon rashers with bones in it.


Wasn't it the Austin All Aggro with it's 'innovative' quartic steering wheel which, as it happens, drivers hated so much Austin changed it back to a round one. Actually, Smiths crisps were in the black and white '60s.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Nah humbug , crisps ! you can't beat a good bag of cheesey moments! There is a pub near me that still sells Big D nuts , with an inappropriate cardboard backing . Does this mean

A - there are out of date and should be avoided at all costs

B - the is a black market for casually sexist snacks that exits only in lancashire

C- I am in an episode of Life on Mars .


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## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

You lot over on the mainland don't know what you're missing out on not having tayto crisps. Their cheese and onion is much better than walkers. My brothers tell me they are available in the foreign food isle of some tescos over there.


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Are Tayto's better than King Crisps?


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## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

Geordie Boy said:


> Are Tayto's better than King Crisps?


I don't think I've tasted King's. They don't seem widely available up here. I grew up eating taytos.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Nah humbug , crisps ! you can't beat a good bag of cheesey moments! There is a pub near me that still sells Big D nuts , with an inappropriate cardboard backing . Does this mean
> 
> A - there are out of date and should be avoided at all costs
> 
> ...


I think A. Although possibly it could be C. Can you see a Findus crispy pancake?

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## origmarm (Mar 7, 2012)

Tayto are strange like that. The cheese and onion is awesome but the salt and vinegar I find mediocre. Childhood memories from visiting the relatives...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> I think A. Although possibly it could be C. Can you see a Findus crispy pancake?
> 
> Gaggia Classic OPV and Silvia steam wand; Eureka Mignon; VST 15g, 18g & 20g Baskets;TORR plan 2 convex Tamper


No , but there is a clock in there that says it is set to Morecambe time , underneath it reads " 1954 " . Find us pancakes uncooked were a colour that food should not be . They were luminous orange.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> Nah humbug , crisps ! you can't beat a good bag of cheesey moments! There is a pub near me that still sells Big D nuts , with an inappropriate cardboard backing . Does this mean
> 
> A - there are out of date and should be avoided at all costs
> 
> ...


C deffo - seen Gene around?


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Definitely c if the Pub TV have the one of those dials where you have to tune tv to the channel by hand


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## bignorry (Mar 19, 2013)

tudor crisps like fresh roasted beans = taste now look at whats popular, cheese n onion crisps in a blue bag that should have shown us writing was on the wall. watched a docu on golden wonders demise and walkers pushed and pushed with cheaper costs to supermarkets then bigger advertising campaigns and after GW was pushed out up came the prices again but no competition.Look at Asda ,remember when they could say quality was what they were all about then in comes walmart and quality and choice go out the window.If you take your time shopping in there then you can see (or cant) all the products they no longer stock,replaced by the asda alternative so you therefore dont have the choice.

Hows this for an idea to improve quality ,each week all members of the forum pick a supermarket bean. This bag is then bought and used and then each and everyone goes back to the shop and returns empty bag listing reason as not what was described on bag and claiming refund.supermarkets would then either change descriptions or bean quality, we would not be out of pocket and the aisles would either have coffee beans labelled awful/ nicer beans /no longer selling beans ,its a win win for all.


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## alisingh (Dec 31, 2012)

If anyone is interested the "Which" (consumers association) coffee expert says Caffe Nero (not sure how you spell it) is the chain with the best coffee .


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

alisingh said:


> If anyone is interested the "Which" (consumers association) coffee expert says Caffe Nero (not sure how you spell it) is the chain with the best coffee .


Hmm yes , it was a guy who used to own whittards I think that judged it ..........


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Geordie Boy said:


> Definitely c if the Pub TV have the one of those dials where you have to tune tv to the channel by hand


It has a darts board , no darts and half a set of dommies







and a head rest in the men's urinals in memory of Oliver Reed ( this is true )


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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

Costa is getting some exposure today on BBC news at the Liberal Democrat Conference and a cycle race. Did anyone catch that guy at the Conference eating a cup of Costa with a teaspoon? We should complain: He got thick coffee and the rest of us have to make do with the watery stuff


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## bignorry (Mar 19, 2013)

they also highly rated argos cookworks espresso machine .think which subscribers nowadays are leaning more towards best value (good but cheap) .Quality is a very small part of ratings, thats why I cancelled my subscription,turned into a sort of hotukdeals with a voice.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> No , but there is a clock in there that says it is set to Morecambe time , underneath it reads " 1954 " . Find us pancakes uncooked were a colour that food should not be . They were luminous orange.


This could be serious, and need to qualify this further:-

How many TV channels can you get?

Do you find Stan Boardman funny?

Are you contacting us via Teletext?

Gaggia Classic OPV and Silvia steam wand; Eureka Mignon; VST 15g, 18g & 20g Baskets;TORR plan 2 convex Tamper


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

Anthorn said:


> Costa is getting some exposure today on BBC news at the Liberal Democrat Conference and a cycle race. Did anyone catch that guy at the Conference eating a cup of Costa with a teaspoon? We should complain: He got thick coffee and the rest of us have to make do with the watery stuff


Maybe it was Costa's take on Turkish.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> This could be serious, and need to qualify this further:-
> 
> How many TV channels can you get? 3 they all finish at 11 o'clock
> 
> ...


Do I need help.........


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Do I need help.........


Think you're ok just sounds like Morecome on a Sunday. LOL

Sorry for going off topic

Gaggia Classic OPV and Silvia steam wand; Eureka Mignon; VST 15g, 18g & 20g Baskets;TORR plan 2 convex Tamper


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## alisingh (Dec 31, 2012)

We've gor THREE Mcdonalds in Redditch! and 2 KFCs . What medium sized town really needs THREE McDonald's ?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

alisingh said:


> We've gor THREE Mcdonalds in Redditch! and 2 KFCs . What medium sized town really needs THREE McDonald's ?


Lancaster used to have 4 greggs, get this the fourth one was a reject shop , where mis shaped sausage rolls and stuff slightly out of date went to get sold . The locals used to lap it up , it was like People paying for bin food !


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Fast food restaurants and Coffee shop chains are good examples of Cannibalistic Expansion... that is expansion where you don't make your shop larger when demand exceeds supply (as you'd normally do), but open up a new store nearby which effectively takes away customers from your existing stores. It's all about saturating the market to styfer the competition entering


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Lancaster used to have 4 greggs, get this the fourth one was a reject shop , where mis shaped sausage rolls and stuff slightly out of date went to get sold . The locals used to lap it up , it was like People paying for bin food !


Quality, Greggs' reject shops. Maybe Costa might take the same approach....or do they just sell them already at full price.









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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

I quite like Greggs coffee although some of them need to learn the difference between a Cappuccino and a Latte: "What are you saying? It's frothy!". A Greggs take-away coffee with a Greggs Pecan Whirl is rather nice. There's two Greggs in the Mall in town and one on my local High Street.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Anthorn said:


> I quite like Greggs coffee although some of them need to learn the difference between a Cappuccino and a Latte: "What are you saying? It's frothy!". A Greggs take-away coffee with a Greggs Pecan Whirl is rather nice. There's two Greggs in the Mall in town and one on my local High Street.


The difference between a cappucino and a latte is they have pressed the wrong button. I'm sorry to disagree and we all have different taste buds but their coffee really sucks , to each their own but I tried it just as an experiment once , it was worse than I imagined. 99 p is what you pay and it's not worth that .

Their pecan whirls may be very nice tho


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

alisingh said:


> We've gor THREE Mcdonalds in Redditch! and 2 KFCs . What medium sized town really needs THREE McDonald's ?


There's six in Bolton. I think four of them are twenty four hour.


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

Mrboots2u said:


> Nah humbug , crisps ! you can't beat a good bag of cheesey moments! There is a pub near me that still sells Big D nuts , with an inappropriate cardboard backing . Does this mean
> 
> A - there are out of date and should be avoided at all costs
> 
> ...


Now you're talking. I hope it's B.


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## wmoore (Dec 19, 2012)

glevum said:


> Their 9th coffee shop and what a prime location for a beverage at the end of Kings Walk. Must be a joy to look over at the CEX store, the abandoned Easter egg building and the delightful Crumpton Oak swigging Chavs in the Kings Sq concrete eyesore.


How very true. Don't forget Iceland mum's with prams.


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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> The difference between a cappucino and a latte is they have pressed the wrong button. I'm sorry to disagree and we all have different taste buds but their coffee really sucks , to each their own but I tried it just as an experiment once , it was worse than I imagined. 99 p is what you pay and it's not worth that .
> 
> Their pecan whirls may be very nice tho


Not half as good as I make at home but for Luton since the cafes started closing it's good. There is a better one in the Mall at the top of the escalator leading down to the buses. But it's pricey and a bit airy in winter since it's all open with barriers around it. But there's Greggs and then there's Greggs. Maybe you got a bad one.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Anthorn said:


> Not half as good as I make at home but for Luton since the cafes started closing it's good. There is a better one in the Mall at the top of the escalator leading down to the buses. But it's pricey and a bit airy in winter since it's all open with barriers around it. But there's Greggs and then there's Greggs. Maybe you got a bad one.


Perhaps you got a good one







I didnt see them using fresh beans or decent equipment or having any training , other than press that button there to make a coffee. If feel for you dude if you have no other choices in Luton but id rather go without coffee and wait til I got home than drink one in greggs or Macdonalds .


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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Perhaps you got a good one
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree with that. It's office coffee. But hey it's wet. What more do you want?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Anthorn said:


> I agree with that. It's office coffee. But hey it's wet. What more do you want?


Something better , very much better







. Getting together a brew set up for work currently . Anyway posted enough on a thread about bad coffee, going to use my powers for good and talk about good coffee I like on a different thread


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