BANDAR SUNWAY: Gapurna Permai Sdn Bhd, the master franchisee of Costa Coffee stores for Malaysia, will invest some RM100 million to open more than 100 outlets nationwide in five years.
Gapurna Permai director Nor Izzati Tan Sri Mohamad Salim said Costa Coffee will open predominantly in shopping malls.
The company will also open retail outlets, drive-throughs and kiosks, targeting corporate offices and transport hubs, bringing the complete Costa Coffee experience and London's favourite coffee to Malaysians.
Nor Izzati told the New Straits Times that barring any unforeseen circumstances, the company will open 10 to 20 outlets between August and December this year in the Klang Valley.
"Our focus is to open in the Klang Valley first to build the brand, before we spread out to other states. We will go all over Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak," she said at the opening of the company's sixth outlet here last Saturday in Sunway Pyramid Mall here.
Gapurna Permai has opened five outlets - one each in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC), NU Sentral Mall, Sunway Pyramid, Menara Allianz, Q Sentral and MCMC Cyberjaya - over the last three months.
Nor Izzati said the company's investments in all the six outlets were RM6 million.
Costa Coffee sells hot drinks (coffees, teas and hot chocolates), cold drinks, savoury snacks (sandwiches, cakes and pastries) and reusable cups including limited edition pride cups.
Gapurna Permai, a privately-held company, entered into a heads of terms agreement with United Kingdom (UK)’s coffee brand, Costa Coffee PLC in March 2018 to be the master franchisee of the coffee chain in Malaysia.
Under the agreement, Gapurna Permai intends to open 65 Costa Coffee outlets nationwide over five years.
"The 65 outlets, which will be 100 per cent owned by us is just our KPI (key performance indicators) but we plan to expand beyond that. We can open the outlets anywhere except in airports across Malaysia," Nor Izzati said.
She added that the kiosks were expected to break even in two years.
"We are confident on the market for Costa Coffee. Our coffees and sandwiches are 10-12 per cent cheaper than our competitors," she said.
Clair Preston-Beer, managing director of Costa Middle East and Asia said the company was looking forward to accelerating its growth in Malaysia so more customers can enjoy the coffee.
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by the Costa family as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops.
Brothers Bruno and Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Lambeth, London, supplying local caterers.
In 1985, Sergio bought out Bruno's share of the company.
By 1995, the chain had 41 stores in UK, and was acquired by Whitbread, the UK's largest hotel and coffee shop operator, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary.
In 2009, Costa opened its 1,000th store in Cardiff.
On April 25 last year, Whitbread announced its intention to fully demerge Costa within two years. Subsequently, The Coca-Cola Company announced a deal to acquire the chain.
On January 3 this year, Coca-Cola completed the acquisition of Costa Coffee for US$4.9 billion from Whitbread.