Whitbread chief executive, Alison Brittain, has said the new food initiatives brought into the Costa estate have had an immediate impact on trade.
Speaking to analysts following this week’s first quarter update, Brittain said that the bacon roll and coffee meal deal introduced in May had prompted an upturn in breakfast trade. She said it was still too early to tell what effect the cold summer drinks range was likely to have.
She said that the price rises introduced in February had not prompted any consumer backlash but insisted the brand remained very conscious of its value credentials, especially in comparison to food-led venues introducing cheap coffee offers.
On the price rises, she said: “The first indication you get of a customer reaction these days is in a nano second when you get a flurry of tweets but there was none of that.”
Finance director Nicholas Cadbury said the rises had added c1% to like-for-like sales.
Brittain said that the high street had generally been flat during the period with the growth drivers continuing to be travel hubs, concessions and drive-thrus.
On competition, Cadbury said: “We’re not seeing much movement from the higher end coffee providers. It will be quite interesting to see how the higher price coffee chains do over the next few years with the cost headwinds they’ve got coming their way.
“We are more conscious of the food-led retailers going into coffee, especially at a lower price point, which is why we’re quite measured about where we put our prices. Ultimately, we’re still growing market share, which shows we’re pitching the offer right.”
