Double Celebrations at Costa this National Day

• The UAE and the coffee company both celebrate 40 years of success
• 40th Birthday offer – 40 per cent off coffee and muffin on Friday 2nd December

Double celebrations and double espressos are in order next week, as the UAE and Costa Coffee both celebrate 40 successful years. The United Arab Emirates will reach its landmark 40th anniversary as a nation on Friday 2nd December, 2011, and Costa too is celebrating its fourth decade in business this year.

In 1971, the historic decision was made to unify the Emirates. It was also in 1971 that Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa opened their wholesale coffee business in London, and Costa was born. Eric Hughes, General Manager, Costa Coffee UAE, says: “We want to express our pride and heartfelt congratulations to the leadership and people of the UAE on 40 amazing years as a nation. For all of us at Costa, the UAE has a very special place in our hearts. In 1999, we opened the first international Costa outlet here in Dubai, and its success has spurred our development globally. Today we have more than 80 Costa stores across the UAE and globally more than 2,000 stores in 25 nations. It’s been an amazing 40 years.
“If we hadn’t been so warmly welcomed by our customers in the UAE, I feel it is unlikely that we would have had the confidence to grow and develop the global brand so many people know and love today. We look forward to celebrating the spirit and success of the nation, and Costa, for many years to come. “

To celebrate National Day, Costa Coffee will be offering all of its customers 40 per cent off a medio coffee and muffin on Friday 2nd December. “It’s a little something to mark two celebrations that we thought our customers would appreciate,” says Hughes.

In 1978, Costa opened its first coffee shop in London, and in 1995, the company was acquired by Whitbread, the UK-headquartered hospitality company. Costa opened its first international store in the UAE in 1999 with its franchise partner Emirates Leisure Retail, a subsidiary of the Emirates Group. By the year 2000, Costa was selling 3.7 million cups of coffee each week, and by 2006, the latte began to outsell the cappuccino for the first time in the brand’s history. In 2009, Costa insured the tongue of its Italian Master of Coffee, Gennaro Pelliccia for £10 million (AED57.2m). Today, Costa operates 80 stores in the UAE and more than 2,000 globally.

With an additional 300 outlets opening worldwide over the next year, Costa is a market leading brand. Capturing the attention of critics around the world, Costa was recently awarded Marketing Society’s “Global Award” – beating global mega brands Yahoo, Honda and Nokia to the top prize. Additionally, Costa was named Marketing Week’s “Brand of the Year” on May 25th – placing Costa in the company of recent winners Tesco, O2 and Innocent, along with earning the prestigious Rainforest Alliance “Sustainable Standard-Setter” prize, where it joined Kraft on the winners’ podium.