Pub chain JD Wetherspoon is launching an assault on high street coffee chains in a bid to triple its coffee and breakfast sales over the next 18 months and reduce its reliance on sales of alcohol by grabbing a bigger slice of the lucrative coffee shop and food-on-the-go market in the UK.
The group, founded by Tim Martin, the colourful publican, is responding to increased competition from supermarkets, which have hammered sales across the pub industry with cheap booze deals.
In order to achieve this, the company plans to cut the price of coffee and breakfast by as much as 20%.
From next week, the 936-strong pub chain will sell Lavazza filter coffee for 99p – a price cut of about 20p – with free refills to entice customers through the doors of its 880 UK pubs in the mornings and early afternoons.
A small latte or cappuccino will cost the same. It also said it would introduce a new traditional breakfast at £2.99, in addition to its other 10 breakfasts.
The company is launching its drive from a position of strength as the fifth-biggest seller of breakfasts in the UK, selling 50m coffees and 24m breakfasts per year.
JD Wetherspoon’s food sales rose 10.1% in the six months to 25 January.
