Premium quality Costa Coffee will now be available from self-serve coffee bars as the Costa Express concept is launched across the UK.

Costa Express was developed in response to an increasing demand for quality 'on-the-go' coffee, following the acquisition for £59.5m of Coffee Nation by Costa Coffee owners, Whitbread in March this year. The concept aims to enable organisations to offer additional services, create new revenue streams and boost income with very little maintenance.

Costa Express unmanned coffee bars use fresh milk only (no powder), real Costa Mocha Italia coffee beans, and take up as little as 1sq m/10.7sq ft of space. They are touch‐screen operated, available in both chip and pin and 'pay at till' versions, and provide real-time reporting on machine performance and drink sales.

Costa Express provides free installation and machine maintenance, and ongoing staff training is included. The company's aim is to reach 3,000 Costa Express machines nationwide in the next five years, building on the existing 900 Coffee Nation branded units.

Image: Simon Clay