costa coffee roastery tour

Find uncommon ground at Costa Rica's 5 best coffee tours

Jan 23, 2020 • 3 min read

Costa Rica's mountainous terrain makes it ideal for coffee production © OliverJW / Getty Images

For Costa Ricans, coffee is more than just a caffeine kick. The coffee bean is nicknamed grano de oro — the golden grain — in part because of how the industry has shaped the entire country’s development. As one of the world's top exporters, you won't find a better cup of coffee anywhere else. Even Pope Francis is a fan, calling Costa Rica's brew "the world's best coffee."

So if there's one truly authentic Costa Rican experience to have, it's a trip to a coffee farm. Here are the best five coffee tours to take.  

The Costa Rica coffee tour experience

To truly understand Costa Rica's connection to the popular brew, a coffee tour is an excellent place to start. A traditional tour will begin with the history of coffee worldwide before guiding visitors through a farm to follow the process from seed to bean to cup.

Coffee is grown in mountainous regions across Costa Rica. Whether you arrive at Juan Santamaría International Airport (near San José ) or Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (in Liberia ), you can be on a coffee farm within 30 minutes. 

The best coffee-growing regions feature high altitude and volcanic soils that create an ideal climate for the plants. In Costa Rica, those conditions aren’t hard to find.

Naranjo, a historic village in the Central Valley , has been producing coffee for more than 150 years. There are  cafetales (coffee farms) in mountainous towns and regions such as Tarrazú, Tres Ríos, Orosí, Brunca and Turrialba. Each region will claim that their coffee is the best in Costa Rica, but it really all comes down to personal preference. 

By law, virtually all coffee grown in Costa Rica is arabica, meaning it comes from the Coffea arabica plant first found in the Middle East.  

Regardless of where in the country the plants are grown, when coffee berries are ripe, they’re harvested by hand.

The milled beans are bagged and exported. If the coffee is staying in Costa Rica, they’ll be toasted and packaged for sale. And if the beans have been processed as part of your tour, the guide might roast, grind and brew the freshest cup of coffee you’ve ever had. 

Choosing a Costa Rica coffee tour

Much like a craft brewery tour, you’ll find that most coffee farmers in Costa Rica follow many of the same steps. What matters, then, is what region of Costa Rica you’re visiting and what type of tour interests you. 

Coffee tours in Costa Rica’s Central Valley

The world’s best-known coffee company – Starbucks – runs Hacienda Alsacia , which is located just 30 minutes from the San José airport. In addition to the small-batch coffee they grow, Hacienda Alsacia is also researching climate- and disease-resistant variants. The 1.5-hour tour runs daily from 8am - 4pm with prices starting at US$30 for adults.  

In the nearby city of Heredia (within 20 minutes of the airport) is Café Britt , the best-known brand of gourmet Costa Rican coffee. They’ve offered tours since 1991 and make the coffee found at upscale restaurants and gift shops across the country. Café Britt offers a variety of tours ranging from a 1.5-hour coffee-lovers tour (starting at US$26) to a six-hour coffee and adventure tour ($123). 

Coffee tours in Monteverde/La Fortuna 

Nestled in the mountain town of Monteverde , Don Juan offers a three-in-one tour that focuses on coffee but also highlights chocolate’s indigenous history and sugarcane production. Tours run daily at 8am, 10am, 1pm and 3pm and are fully accessible.   

Across Lake Arenal, in La Fortuna , North Fields Cafe provides a similar experience in the shadow of Arenal Volcano. Daily tours run from 8am-4pm. 

Coffee tours in Guanacaste

Guanacaste’s climate is better-suited for sugarcane, but the Tío Leo Coffee Tour — minutes away from Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport — is a worthy stop on your way to (or from) the Nicoya Peninsula ’s beautiful beaches. Morning tours run daily from 8am -11. Tickets are $25 per person.  

Few activities will combine as much history and culture — not to mention flavor — into a single, quintessentially Costa Rican experience.

You might also like:  Peaceful escapes in Costa Rica

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The Classic Britt Coffee Tour

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Located in the fertile highlands of Costa Rica's central valley, Café Britt has been running plantation tours since 1991. This tour includes visits to both the coffee plantation and roastery, where you''ll watch workers and learn the art of professional coffee tasting.

During the tour you will be accompanied by expert guides who are knowledgeable, personable, and good-humored accompany you during the whole tour. You'll learn about sustainable growing practices as well as the special role that coffee plays in Costa Rica's social and economic spheres. The tour ends with a visit to the well-stocked gift store, where you'll have the opportunity to purchase fresh bags of coffee. You can also choose to have lunch at the on-site restaurant, Don Prospero, which serves up fresh and tasty Costa Rican cuisine.

This tour lasts 1.5 hours. It is appropriate for both tour groups and individuals. There is some walking involved but the route can be navigated by people of all ages and physical abilities.

Note: the tour at 3:00 PM is available only from December to April.

What to Bring

Comfortable clothes and shoes, hat, sunscreen, camera, insect repellent.

What's included

Guide, coffee tasting, and a visit to the plantation and roastery.

Transportation

Many of our tours and activities offer transportation pick up & drop off options from several locations and destinations. Options vary by tour, see “BOOKING REQUEST” for full details.

Traveler Comments

The tour was very cute and entertaining. The food was also good. It was a good tour.

I didn't think it was going to be a humorous, but it was. Very informative. Great products to sell.

The tour was fun and informative. The included buffet lunch in the restaurant afterwards was excellent.

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This tour is specifically designed for the serious coffee lover. It includes a tour of the organic farm and an informative coffee tasting.

On this tour you’ll get a good look at some of the environment that makes Costa Rica an ecological wonder. First you’ll see the Britt coffee plantation, and learn about Costa Rican coffee. Then you’ll head to La Paz waterfall gardens for an outdoor lunch and an informative look at local flora and fauna.

This tour allows you to experience the tropical environment of Heredia, Costa Rica, as well as the bright, rich flavors of its native coffee beans. Café Britt coffee farm is a gourmet coffee farm that strives to offer the finest possible Costa Rican coffee.

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Fully booked: Tour of the new Costa Coffee roastery in Basildon

22 november 2017 10:00-13:00, basildon, essex, united kingdom.

The Costa Roastery, Christopher Martin Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3TR, United Kingdom

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Discover what goes on behind the scenes of the UKs best-loved coffee brand with this Costa Coffee Roastery Tour for Two.

Founded in 1971, Costa has forged its way to the forefront of the UKs thriving coffee scene. With a guided tour of their brand new Roastery by a passionate coffee expert, the two of you will be getting a unique insight into the company and learning all about what goes into crafting their beloved coffee blend. Follow the journey from bean-to-cup and sneak a peek into the Costa laboratory, before indulging with your favourite Costa coffee.

What's Included?

• Guided tour of the Costa Roastery with a passionate coffee expert
• See the process of coffee-making from bean to cup
• Sneak peak at the laboratory
• Experience gift pack
• Cancellation indemnity

What happens on the day?

Your experience will consist of a full factory tour of Costas impressive new Roastery in Basildon, Essex. Youll be getting the lowdown from coffee expert as you watch the journey from bean to cup, take a sneak peak at the laboratory and learn the history behind the brand.

Theres no better way to finish things off than with a taste of the good stuff, so you can indulge yourselves with your favourite coffee from the core menu.

Your voucher is valid for 12 months from the date of issue

Please note you must have booked and taken your experience before the expiry date

Participant guidelines

• Minimum age: 10 (under 18s must be accompanied by a full paying adult)
• Because of the nature of the building and its activities, if you require special assistance due to any disabilities please contact the Costa Roastery in advance so that we can make the appropriate arrangements to accommodate your request. In specific circumstances, your carer might be admitted free of charge to support you during the tour. Please contact the Costa Roastery for further information before booking
• The experience content, equipment used and restrictions may vary

Availability

The tour runs on the last Monday of each month. Dates may vary due to bank/public holidays. All bookings are subject to availability.

We recommend you book at least four weeks in advance to ensure that dates are available.

Please allow 1 to 2 hours for the full experience. Please arrive 30 minutes before the agreed start time. Late arrivals may be turned away, and will be unable to re-book, at The Roasterys discretion.

What about insurance?

The centres contracted with us hold public liability insurance. We also hold contingency liability cover. You will not be liable for accidental damage to equipment, except where damage has been caused as a result of recklessness or wilful negligence.

A cancellation indemnity, subject to terms, is included with every voucher.

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All you have to do is pay for the experience you wish to purchase and well send a voucher and booking information to you or directly to the recipient, then you just need to check the info and book your experience.

Please Note: If you’re purchasing a NEW Experience you will be entitled to the validity stated within this description. If/when you are within 3 months of the voucher expiry date and there are still restrictions in place, Virgin Experience Days are offering free extensions to allow the customer to use at a later date. They are reviewing this regularly in line with Government advice and updates.

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Tasting labs, green beans and the man with the £10m tongue: We go behind the scenes at Costa's new £38m Essex roastery to unearth its secrets

• Basildon has become new unlikely global epicentre for coffee roasting
• Costa - the world's second biggest coffee chain - gave us a tour
• We met the man with the £10m tongue who tests every single bag of coffee
• Production director says: 'Britain is nation of tea drinkers - but tide is turning' 

By Lee Boyce for Thisismoney.co.uk

Updated: 03:56 EDT, 18 April 2017

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Coffee is a booming business in Britain, with shops – whether chains or independents – popping up all over our struggling high streets whether you like it or not.

One of the big drivers behind this coffee craze is British success story Costa , which has genuine Italian roots. In fact, it has become the second largest coffee chain in the world behind Starbucks.

Sales have risen 37 per cent in the last five years to reach £3.4billion in 2016, according to analysts Mintel.

Coffee boom: Costa has helped drive sales of the black stuff in Britain - and gave This is Money a guided tour of its new roastery in Essex

Between 2015 and 2016 alone sales were up 10.4 per cent and are forecast to rise a further 29 per cent by 2022.

Costa has ridden this crest of a coffee-fuelled wave in Britain. It now has more than 2,000 shops in the UK - or roughly one for every 30,000 people who live here. 

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Giorgio Fioravanti, the production director, gave This is Money one of the first tours of the new roastery in Essex - he tells me that Britain is just the 44th biggest consumer per capita of coffee in the world.

Behind the scenes: We visited the shiny new Costa roastery in Essex

'Britain is still a nation of tea drinkers, but the tide is turning,' he says. Top of the coffee drinking charts? Finland.

The statistics and vast expansion of coffee houses back up Giorgio. 

Glance at any modern high street and it is full of people carrying a takeaway coffee cup, whether it be from Costa or one of its competitors. 

This is Money was among the first to get a tour of roastery - which smelt as delicious as you'd imagine - and reveals the surprising secrets behind Costa, the roastery and coffee itself, including meeting the Master of Coffee with a £10million tongue... 

BASILDON COFFEE EPICENTRE

Costa imports coffee beans from across the globe. Giorgio tells me that it needed a new site to expand, thanks to the rapid growth Costa has seen in the last decade and predicts in the near future.

So why Basildon? Out of 20 potential areas, Costa picked the Essex town, primarily because it is 14 miles from Tilbury Docks, where the coffee arrives in huge sacks ready to go through the roasting process and can then be exported to other markets - while it also has quick links to London via the A127.

It now means that Basildon has become a new - if somewhat unlikely - global epicentre for coffee.

QUADRUPLED PRODUCTION

The new site has enabled it to quadruple roasting capacity from 11,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes of coffee annually.

That means it is able to produce a staggering 2.1billion cups of coffee a year

The new production methods it has adopted in Basildon will also allow the receipt and storage of 24 tonnes of coffee beans per hour – up from six tonnes at Lambeth. 

Coffee Factory: Consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce with production director Giorgio Fioravanti amid all of the pipes, tubes and vats of the roastery

VIETNAM 2ND BIGGEST COFFEE PRODUCER

Does coffee fluctuate in price, I ask Giorgio. He tells me that previously, it did somewhat, but producers have gotten better and are therefore able to keep up with demand.

The second biggest coffee producer in the world is not located where you think.

Number one is Brazil, and I listed off Costa Rica, El Salvador and Colombia as my guesses of the next biggest.

But it's not. It's Vietnam. That's right. Much of the coffee you drink has beans blended from Vietnam, where the industry has boomed and helped keep costs down. 

It makes mainly robusta beans, which are quite bitter, but work as part of a balanced blend.

Giorgio says that the quality continues to get better from the country - and robusta beans make up part of the Costa blend of coffee, including ones from Vietnam. 

COFFEE IS GREEN

Coffee beans are rock hard when they arrive, and a whitish green. 

When I pick some up, Giorgio jokingly tells me not to try to eat them - in a battle between green coffee beans and teeth, coffee beans will almost always win.

To become a tasty hot beverage, there are an number of stages which they go through at the facility in order to get them roasted right.

The are emptied straight from the bag into a big vat. A huge silver pipe then sucks them up in Willy Wonka fashion to be cleaned again for any impurities - they are cleaned at source, but the process needs to be repeated. 

From here, they are delicately roasted and slowly turn into the brownish colour we associate with coffee.

All the roasted coffee is transported via conveyor belts, bucket elevators and slides to prevent damage to the beans - it really is a case of Giorgio and the Coffee Factory.

Pipes and shoots: The factory is full of tubes and pipes, all of which aim to create perfect roasted coffee

AND THE FACTORY IS GREEN... 

The roastery achieved BREEAM 'outstanding' facility at its design stage assessment –and is targeting another 'outstanding' certification at final stage assessment, which is pending.

BREEAM is the world's leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings.

It has a solar panel system which sucks in the glorious Essex sunshine to provide energy for the building and heats water collected through the rooftop rainwater-harvesting system. The building is also lit only by LEDs. 

Additionally, all of the coffee Costa sources is Rainforest Alliance Certified which helps protect the environment in countries in which coffee is grown. 

COLOUR AND MOISTURE ARE KEY

On the main roastery floor, there is a central control unit with computers monitoring all of the elements and men in lab coats pensively monitoring screens. 

Coffee samples drop down from a shoot, again in Willy Wonka type fashion, to then be tested by infrared for colour and in a specialist machine to measure moisture. 

This keeps quality control to a maximum - if the coffee is roasted too much or not enough, it is no good for Costa to use as the flavour needs to remain consistent.

From above: It is hard to do it justice from this photograph, but the robotics behind packing the coffee are smooth and hypnotic

ROBOT PACKING

The roastery contains clever robots which pack the coffee once it is roasted. The process is hypnotic - but because of the technology, I wasn't allowed to take photographs or film.  

Giorgio tells me Costa has been to roasteries around the world to find the best systems to put together in order to make the facility as efficient as possible.

The robot packing line is impressive. It measures the right amount of coffee beans, packs them and then loads them onto a pallet, in a smooth, methodical and gentle fashion in order not to damage the flavours. 

From here, the robots print the right label onto the pallets in order to be shipped either to stores in the UK or globally which are loaded onto the computers in the morning - while another robot even shrink wraps it. 

These processes are predicted to improve productivity by 25 per cent. Previously, the pallets were packed by hand in Lambeth.

THE £10M TONGUE

Gennaro Pellicia is the Master of Coffee at Costa, surely one of the best job titles in the country.

He worked his way up the ranks at Costa. His parents, both Italian, moved to England and his mum bagged a job at Costa, then a very small operation. 

He started work as a barista while studying at university.

From there, he began training new staff before being trained to spot tainted coffee beans to make sure Costa's signature blend is correct. His tongue is insured for £10million. 

BARISTA LADDER

Gennaro is not alone. Costa takes great pride in training baristas up the ladder, holding annual awards and promoting within. Giorgio too started as a barista before working his way up the business.

Luke, who I meet busily beavering away in the lab checking coffee beans, was a finalist at its annual coffee awards where he was spotted by Gennaro, who decided he would make a good addition to the scientific team.

The new roastery has facilities to train 3,000 baristas a year - and as Gennaro points out in terms of the taste of the coffee Costa serves, having well-trained baristas is half the battle. 

I was put through my paces as a barista after a quick hands on training lesson. I have respect for under pressure baristas who deal with hot liquids and eager customers under pressure. It's harder than it looks!

Barista Boyce: Gennaro Pellicia - the man with the £10m tongue - taught me how to taste coffee and trained me up as a wannabe barista

SCIENCE BEHIND YOUR COFFEE THE LAB

Up in the lab, I donned a white coat and got down to the serious art of tasting the coffee, which is no easy feat when you are standing next to the man with the £10million tongue.

Costa takes a sample of beans from every single bag which arrives from countries around the world, before they arrive at the roastery.

Each of these sample bags are scattered onto a tray and the lab staff methodically check the green beans for impurities, such as insect damage or signs of cracking.

They then roast them to turn into coffee for a taste test. There is a real art form to testing it. There is mood lighting and lab is all neutral colours - even the coffee machine is white instead of the Costa red, as they can influence your tastebuds.

The team make three cups of the coffee, all with the same amount of water and at the same temperature. They then vote whether or not the coffee makes the grade.

Gennaro taught me the art of inhaling the coffee, swirling it around in your mouth and spitting it out - and after a while, you can taste the notes you are looking out for.

It means every single cup of coffee you drink from Costa has had beans which have been checked in the lab - and some eight per cent of the beans are typically rejected each year. 

BLENDED BEANS

Gennaro tells me that coffee is seasonal in some countries. Its blend is made up of arabica and robusta beans.

He explains that the arabica bean has the acidity and the aroma, while the hardier robusta adds body. I tried the two separately, and robusta is incredibly bitter and the arabica is needed for balance.

Gennaro adds that at certain times of the year, the quality of these beans can dip in countries and so they will buy from another to make sure the quality remains high. 

THE 30-YEAR PLAN

Costa has built the new roastery with its future in mind. Just 20 years ago, Costa had a far smaller presence than it does today with just 41 shops when Whitbread took it over in 1995.

At this Basildon roastery, it has extra land available to expand even further in future and Giorgio says it means the facility has at least a 30-year life span.

If shops continue to open at their current pace, Costa could have another 6,000 shops worldwide in that 30-year period. And with the locality of the docks, this roastery has been built with the future firmly in mind.

'NICE AND EASY'

One of the key takeaways from the Costa visit was just how passionate both Giorgio and Gennaro are about Costa and coffee.

Both, with decades of experience in the industry, were infectious with their love of coffee.

A common phrase Giorgio - who hails from near Perugia, where I first started enjoying coffee after a trip a few years go - used was 'nice and easy'.

The production methods are nice and easy - and this uncomplicated philosophy has helped Costa grow into the coffee giant it is today. 

COSTA CHINESE BOOM?

As well as Britain, Costa can be found in 30 other countries, including one market it is looking to focus heavily on in the future, China. 

It has already opened 400 shops as the country starts to get into coffee.

It plans another 200 stores worldwide this year and to keep up with demand.

Costa started in 1971, founded by two Italian brothers, Sergio and Bruno, who were fed-up with poor standards of coffee found in London at the time.

In 1995, it was taken over by FTSE 100 listed Whitbread - which also owns Premier Inn.

The new roastery cost £38million and took 18 months to build.

It is four times the sizes of its previous Lambeth facility, which is due to finally close its doors at the end of the month and was unviable to expand.

Half of the staff have moved from that site, the rest have been employed from the local Essex area. 

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Costa Coffee quadruples roasting capacity with new facility

Costa Coffee opened its new roastery in March signaling a major milestone in the business’ expansion to meet the company’s growing global demand.

The £38m new facility, located in Basildon, Essex, has more than quadrupled Costa’s roasting capacity from 11,000 tonnes of coffee per annum to 45,000 tonnes per annum, providing the platform for its national and global growth plans. Rapid growth in the UK and internationally has driven up demand for Costa’s coffee. The new roastery is a response to that demand and will provide the infrastructure for sustained global expansion.

The Basildon, Essex location was chosen because of its proximity to Tilbury Docks where Costa’s raw coffee beans are imported. Named Paradise Street, the new facility is one of Europe’s biggest coffee roasting facilities and covers 85,690 sq ft – or the equivalent of over 30 tennis courts – and will enable Costa to produce coffee for 2.1 billion cups of coffee per year. It is expected to operate for the next 20-30 years.

  Dominic Paul, managing director of Costa Coffee, says, “Costa is growing rapidly as a global business and our new roastery will provide the platform for sustained international expansion as we continue inspiring the world to love great coffee. Turning on our new roasting capacity is a landmark for the business. It’s a statement of our ambition to grow and our passion for great coffee.”

The new roastery also features a new coffee academy to train 3,000 baristi per year.

Paul also notes that roasting in Basildon “keeps the UK at the centre of our growing global brand and enables us to build on everything we have learned from more than four decades of roasting in Lambeth. Today is about quality, capacity, investing in the future and being true to our heritage – it’s about embracing our traditions whilst continuing to innovate and drive global growth.”

As well as roasting to the same quality and flavour, the new roastery has been designed to improve efficiency. Green coffee beans from Rainforest Alliance-certified growers are shipped from coffee-producing countries to Tilbury Docks just 14 miles from the roastery – which is half the distance to the old Lambeth roastery resulting in fewer road miles and much improved supply chain efficiency.

Once the beans arrive, new production methods now allow the receipt and storage of 24 tonnes of green coffee per hour – up from six tonnes at Lambeth. State-of-the-art in-house processes will increase productivity by 25 percent compared to the previous roastery.

Giorgio Fioravanti, production director, says, “When we were designing the roastery we had to focus on the long term. We are now able to produce 45,000 tonnes of coffee every year, with the future potential to expand to 60,000 tonnes. This new facility will enable Costa to grow for decades to come. The latest roasting technology we have here will help us to do that.”

Paradise Street will also be one of the most sustainable industrial buildings in the world and will operate on a zero waste-to-landfill basis. On-site renewable energy generation will further reduce the building’s carbon footprint, with the roof hosting a 249kw solar PV system which will provide power for the roastery. In tandem with the rainwater harvesting system, this will also generate hot water for the building.

Already achieving BREEAM Outstanding (to latest standards) during its design stage assessment, the roastery is also shortlisted for the 2017 BREEAM Awards and aiming to receive a further ‘Outstanding’ certification at the final stage assessment. BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) is the world’s leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings.

The goal for the new roastery was to focus on quality and sustainability, ensuring that Costa’s high quality coffee standards were met but with the minimal environmental footprint, as Whitbread, Costa’s parent company, is targeting to reduce emissions by 15 percent from its 2014-15 baseline by 2020.

Contributing to its energy and water efficiency will be solar photovoltaic roof panels generating approximately 250 kW and a rainwater harvesting system for recycling and re-using water. The building and the internal roasting equipment will also have a wide array of other sustainability features, drawing on lessons learned from Costa’s Eco Pod coffee shop and wider environmental innovation across Whitbread and its Premier Inn business.

With over 2,000 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,280 in 30 overseas markets, London-based Costa Coffee is the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK.

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Costa Crafted™

Exceptional quality starts at the source. From bean to cup we use our extensive experience to bring Costa Crafted ™ quality to everything we do.

• Ready to Drink
• Costa Crafted
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Crafted to perfection

Fun Fact: Only 5% of the world’s coffee beans are good enough for our Mocha Italia signature blend whole bean and ground coffee. Once selected, our precise slow roasting methods ensure every single cup has the same never-bitter, rich flavor, pleasing aroma, and smooth taste you've come to expect from our coffee.

Costa Crafted ™ - Be a Barista at Home

Barista-quality coffee, handcrafted by you at home. We've created some brew guides and recipes that you can create in your own kitchen.

Est. London 1971

Creating an iconic coffee blend

In 1978, as demand for their coffee grew, they moved to their iconic roastery on Old Paradise Street and sold their coffee beans to prestigious hotels in London, such as The Ritz, delivered in style by famous London black cabs.

The shop across the pond

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What to bring to the tour

Learn everything about coffee from farm to cup.

8:30 am French / Spanish 9:30 am English 2 pm English

Farm-to-table lunch: We serve typical Costa Rican food made with fresh ingredients from our garden, monday through Saturday (not on Sunday)

If you need transportation from your hotel, let us know in your reservation form below!

Regular tour: $40 Kids 6 - 12 years old: $12 Kids under 6 years: Free Roundtrip hotel shuttle: $6  Lunch: $12 

We're committed to cutting emissions, in line with climate science, to reach Net Zero by 2040. 

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Tackling climate change to keep the world's cup full.

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. The science is clear: to avoid its very worst effects, we need to limit global warming to 1.5C.

To play our part in tackling climate change, we need to think and act boldly. The targets we’ve set ourselves are significant; they'll drive us to genuinely change the way we do business, globally.

Our progress and promises

Our Roastery, opened in 2017, was the first roasting facility to achieve the BREEAM Outstanding sustainability certification.

We’ll halve our emissions per coffee serving by 2030 (from a 2019 baseline).

Achieve Net Zero emissions, across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2040.

Our path to Net Zero

Our starting point was to understand the carbon footprint of our entire global business, including our supply chains. By building this map of where our carbon emissions come from, we are better able to understand where we should be focusing our attention in the years to come.

In March 2022 we launched our new, ambitious carbon reduction targets across our global business. Our initial focus is to reduce our emissions by 50% per coffee serving: our 2030 target, approved by the experts at the Science Based Targets initiative . Once we achieve this, we’ll continue to reduce emissions even further (as much as we possibly can), before investing in innovative programmes to offset the small amount of challenging emissions that remain. This will help us to achieve our ultimate ambition: to be Net Zero by 2040.

Making positive changes

Our targets are pushing us to make a big difference to our business and our planet. See our Climate Change roadmap for more detail.

• Download roadmap (PDF)

Driving change in our supply chain

Our Roastery

In early 2017, we opened our new state-of-the-art roastery in Basildon, Essex - one of the largest in Europe - quadrupling Costa’s roasting capacity.

New equipment and processes to reduce the energy taken to roast each tonne of coffee by 30% compared to our previous roastery.

Renewable energy generation, with 249kw of solar panels on the roof of the building.

Facilities to make sure that zero waste is sent to landfill.

Electric car chargers, LED lighting and a rainwater harvesting system.

Even the location of our roastery was especially chosen to improve efficiency. Being so close Tilbury Docks, our Rainforest Alliance Certified™ green coffee beans only have to travel 14 miles to our roastery – halving the original journey distance they used to take to our previous roastery in Lambeth!

This huge investment in sustainability when building our roastery means that it was the first industrial process site to ever be awarded a BREEAM Outstanding accreditation . Read our Roastery's Energy Management Policy here .

We are always trying to improve the energy efficiency of our stores, for example by investing in new equipment and LED lighting. One of the ways that we have been able to test new efficiencies in our stores is through the construction of four ‘Eco Pod’ stores, for example at Parc Tawe, Swansea and Wrekin Retail Park, Telford.

Read more about our commitment to responsible energy use here .

Our stores and team members are at the heart of communities across the UK. This gives us the opportunity to make a real difference that goes way beyond our doors. 

• Back to Sustainability

The Costa Coffee story started over 50 years ago with two brothers and one dream. Since then, a lot has changed, but our passion to create perfection remains the same.​

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Our History

We have over 50 years of experience in crafting the finest quality coffee. From revolutionary methods and commitment to quality to remarkable successes that have made Costa Coffee a global brand, our story is as unique as our coffee.

Our Roastery

Our brand-new state-of-the-art roastery is one of the biggest roasteries in Europe. Not just content with being the biggest, our roastery is also one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. Click the button below to discover more.

Amazing photos of London's first ever Costa Coffee show how much it has changed since 1981

The store has undergone a drastic transformation

• 21:23, 10 MAR 2023

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Costa Coffee has become a staple on every UK high street. Since it was founded in 1971, the hallmark burgundy cafés offer a haven of warmth away from the bustle of city life.

Walking to any of their stores, wafts of slow-roasted coffee beans fill your nose, just waiting to inject your bloodstream with a much-needed dose of caffeine. Whichever side of the age-old debate of whether Costa or Starbucks does it better, there's no denying that Costa's blend is part of the UK's identity.

Owners Sergio and Bruno Costa first committed to the company by setting up a small roastery in Fenchurch Street, later moving to South London where the brothers transformed a huge plot of grassland into a brand-new roastery.

READ MORE: Woman travels alone from Paris and queues for 16 hours to be the first in new beauty store

The new site was located on Old Paradise Street, Lambeth, where the Costa Coffee roastery remained until 2017. With demand high, the brothers first ever shop was opened in 1981 on Vauxhall Bridge Road.

It was in this venue that the company became the first coffee providers in London to serve Espresso and crafted Cappuccino in porcelain cups. Quickly after shops were opening up all-over London, becoming a must-visit for all Londoners.

The Vauxhall Bridge shop shut some years back with the historic space now home to Coffee Addict Japanese Pancake. The once simple décor has been replaced with bubblegum pink exteriors, although the vibrancy of the place has not been lost.

Unlike it's traditional predecessor, the new store serves up Instagrammable Japanese soufflè pancakes, while still promising a cup of java.

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Old Paradise Street

Planning Granted

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Zero Carbon London

Project information

Estimated completion

December 2021

5 Old Paradise St, London SE11 6AX, UK

Team Credits

Bywater Properties

Structural Engineer

Webb Yates Engineers

M&E / Sustainability Engineer

Buro Happold

Planning Consultant

Project Manager

Cost Consultant

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WELCOME TO BIG FINGERS COFFEE ROASTER AND SIMBIOSIS BISTRO (PREVIOUSLY "CAFETO DEL MONTE")

Big Fingers Coffee Roaster es un café de especialidad cultivado y producido para los amantes más fieles de esta bebida.Nuestros productos tienen increíbles Fragancias, aromas y sabores.

Provienen de microbeneficios costarricenses desde donde nos aseguramos de la trazabilidad de cada etapa del proceso productivo, para así garantizar la calidad de esta bebida indispensable.

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Serving fresh coffee drinks, smoothies, and a delicious selection of food, we hope you’ll join us to dine in our restaurant.

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Almond Tree Building, Main Road to El Coco, Provincia de Guanacaste, Coco, Costa Rica

Located across the street from Pacifico shops and residential community on the main road in Playas del Coco. You can visit our cafe / restaurant Simbiosis Bistro, or our coffee roasting facility behind the restaurant.

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