Coca-Cola 3E will claim a position among the major “players” in the espresso coffee industry, especially in the HORECA channel (hotels and catering), in the next period, already using the wide network of partners it has in this channel, thanks to soft drinks and alcoholics, as well as take advantage of the ever-increasing consumption of espresso in Greece – and beyond – at home and out, driven both by new consumer trends and increased tourist traffic.

Caffe Vergnano, a premium espresso coffee, was officially launched yesterday in the presence of Carolina Vergnano, Managing Director of the 141-year-old Italian company Caffe Vergnano. Recall that in June 2021, Coca-Cola HBC acquired a 30% stake in the Italian company and at the same time took over the exclusive distribution of the coffee in question in all countries in which it operates, except for Italy, i.e. a total of 28 countries. “Our goal is to make Caffe Vergnano one of the most recognizable Italian coffee brands in Greece as soon as possible,” said Maria Anargyrou-Nikolić, general manager of Coca-Cola Tria Epsilon for Greece and Cyprus, yesterday.

The coffee in question will only be available through the restaurant channel for now, a channel with much higher margins than retail. Already in the second half of 2022, its installation began in 100 stores, and the expansion plan, as Atina Popova, head of the coffee, alcoholic beverages and snacks sector of Coca-Cola 3E, announced at a corresponding press conference, provides for placement in 300 outlets during 2023 with a goal of 1,000 stores in a five-year horizon. Among these stores, some will be designed with the aesthetics of the stores that Caffe Vergnano has (project Caffe Vergnano 1882), of which there are 178 in total worldwide. These stores will not be designed by Coca-Cola 3E, but from customer partners. company, because, as Prodromos Nikolaidis, head of coffee operations for the entire Coca-Cola HBC group, notes, “the group does not have a strategy for developing a chain of stores.”

In the next phase, Coca-Cola 3E will also consider expanding into retail, as Caffe Vergnano makes products for home consumption, both ground coffee and capsules. In addition, Coca-Cola 3E is present in the retail channel through the distribution of Costa Coffee, a brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company, as opposed to the Caffe Vergnano brand, 30% owned by Coca-Cola 3E and the remaining 70% owned by the Vergnano family. It is noted that the share of Costa Coffee in the supermarket chain is 5.5% in capsules and 8% in ground form, while the company aims to achieve a total share of 10%. In addition, Costa Coffee is present in 500 outlets of the HORECA channel.

In total, the Coca-Cola HBC group placed either or both of the two coffee brands in 18 countries, while Caffe Vergnano in particular was placed in 14 countries. It is worth noting that the launch of Costa Coffee coincided with the start of the pandemic, which led to a partial revision of the HORECA retail and channel positioning strategy.

The Group, however, does not intend to be involved in any other category of coffee, ie. instant or filtered, as the espresso category is in constant development.