THE Barista Bar coffee brand owned by Henderson Foodservice and sold exclusively across the Spar, Eurospar and Vivo store network has eclipsed its 2016 target by finishing the year with 260 sites.
It comes following an investment of £3 million (expected to grow to £4m before the end of 2017) as Henderson Foodservice unveiled plans for a further 70 sites early this year, further strengthening the brand.
The milestone 250th Barista Bar was installed in Spar Milltown Ballymoney and marked the company becoming the biggest retail coffee brand in Northern Ireland.
Since launching in February 2015, the brand has experienced exponential growth with a surge in sites featuring the coffee machines. Investment has enabled the total number of Barista Bar machines to rise from just 30 to 260 in 2016 alone.
During the last year, more than 70 tonnes of Barista Bar coffee was sold in Northern Ireland, equating to seven million cups of coffee. This is projected to reach 10 million cups by the end of 2017
Mark Stewart-Maunder, business development director at Henderson Foodservice, said: “The strength of the Barista Bar coffee brand lies not only in its great tasting coffee, but in its convenience to our customers.
"Consumers are looking for premium quality, and our Barista Bar format delivers this time and again. The easy-to-use machines, consistency in every cup and availability in virtually every town and city in Northern Ireland means you no longer have to visit a coffee shop to enjoy a truly fantastic cup of coffee.
“Investment in this brand has reached over £3,000,000 to date and we will continue to invest heavily to bring the brand to even more customers throughout 2017.”
Milltown Spar store manager David Bucklee added: “We are delighted to have the Barista Bar installed in-store and to be able to offer customers a truly great cup of coffee. We expect the Barista Bar to be hugely popular.”
The first Barista Bar site opened in March 2015 and it is hoped that the 300th site will be installed by this March.
