Costa opens £38M roastery to quadruple production

The increased roasting capacity from 11,000t to 45,000t a year would help Costa keep up with its growing global customer base, it said.

Costa can now process 24t of coffee an hour – up from 4t at its previous site in Lambeth.

The new roastery, located close to where its raw coffee beans are imported at Tilbury Docks, opened this week (March 13). The facility occupies 7,961m², and means Costa can now produce 2.1bn cups of coffee each year.

The roastery’s close location to the docks meant Costa would also save money on vehicle fuel, it said.

Train 3,000 baristas a year

A new coffee training academy to coach 3,000 baristas a year was revealed with the facility’s opening.

Costa moved to the bigger roastery as a response to its growth in the UK and globally. The new facility, named Paradise Street, would allow it keep up with the growing demand, it said.

Dominic Paul, Costa md, said: “Costa is growing rapidly as a global business and our new roastery will provide the platform for sustained international expansion as we continue inspiring the world to love great coffee.

“Turning on our new roasting capacity is a landmark for the business. It’s a statement of our ambition to grow and our passion for great coffee.”

Zero waste-to-landfill

Paradise Street will operate on a zero waste-to-landfill basis, Costa said. Renewable energy will be generated on site, with 249kW of solar panels powering the roastery. Rainwater will also be collected, and combined with the solar power, would be used to generate the facility’s hot water.

Costa production director Giorgio Fioravanti said: “When we were designing the roastery we had to focus on the long term. We are now able to produce 45,000t of coffee every year, with the future potential to expand to 60,000t.”

“This excellent new facility will enable Costa to grow for decades to come, as we look to go from the UK’s favourite coffee brand to the world’s favourite. The latest roasting technology we have here will help us to do that, slowly and carefully roasting every coffee bean to seal in the unique flavour of our coffee.”