Barista Bar is said to be on course to become the second-biggest coffee brand in Scotland by Christmas, having grown its market share by 20% since debuting in Spar Scotland earlier this year.
The Henderson Foodservice-owned coffee brand is aiming to overtake Lavazza on the Move in second place behind market leader Costa Coffee, according to Spar Scotland CEO Colin McLean.
The Northern Irish brand first debuted in Spar Scotland’s Halbeath store in March 2024.
Addressing independent retailers at CJ Lang’s annual conference, McLean said the brand had “doubled sales” compared with Costa, which previously held coffee-to-go stands in Spar Scotland stores.
The brand managed to be ahead of the game thanks to its leading promotions, said CJ Lang head of food to go Stephen Brown.
“The combination of coffee and bacon roll for £2.99 is a leader in price and value and unique to Barista Bar,” said Brown.
“The bacon roll offer is something you couldn’t do with Costa before, they wouldn’t allow it in the same form. So it gives the Barista brand a chance to undercut the competition and be a leader of their category.”
By the end of the year, Barista Bar is forecast to be in 99 CJ Lang-owned stores and 25 independents, according to central operations director Sonya Harper.
In January, Henderson Group commercial director Mark Stewart-Maunder told The Grocer Barista Bar planned to become “one of the biggest coffee brands in convenience in Scotland”, with 130 openings forecasted by the end of 2024.
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