Malta-based Island Hotels Group is to develop the Costa Coffee brand in the eastern part of Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, reports Times of Malta. The project will be a joint venture with Buttigieg Holdings Limited.
The project was entrusted to Coffee Company Malta following an international tender issued by Costa International Limited, a UK company forming part of Whitbread Plc.
The agreement allows the company to open and develop 75 Costa Coffee shops in Spain over the next five years. The Coffee Company Malta Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of Buttigieg Holdings Limited.
Whitbread is the UK’s largest hotel, restaurant and coffee shop operator with 40,000 employees. Costa Coffee is the UK’s fastest growing coffee brand and in 2012 was awarded ‘Best Coffee Chain, UK & IE’ and ‘Best CoffeeChain, Europe’ at the European Coffee Awards 2012.
Over the past 18 months, five Costa Coffee shops have been opened in Malta and another two are currently in the pipeline to be opened later on this year.
Island Hotels said this opportunity is in line with the strategy of the group to continue to grow the area of its catering business and is the first opportunity for the Group to expand its operations and expertise into the international market.
