New Zealand group plans more Esquires coffee shops in Ireland

There are 17 Esquires outlets in Ireland

John Mulligan

New Zealand-based Cooks Coffee said its like-for-like sales in Ireland jumped 29pc in its last financial year reflecting the easing of Covid restrictions.

The group controls the Esquires coffee shop chain in Ireland and its business is based entirely on franchisees. It said there’s an “encouraging” pipeline of new stores planned in Ireland for 2023 “and beyond”.

At the end of March, the group had 17 Esquires outlets in Ireland and 51 in the UK. It also owns the Triple Two brand.

Total sales at the stores in Ireland were up 41pc as it benefitted from additional openings.

The Esquires Coffee shops in Ireland are located across the country.

Cooks Coffee said that a number of planned store openings during the last financial year were deferred into the current financial year due to the effects of supply chain disruptions, which it said now appear to be easing.

“Whilst the delay in certain store openings, particularly in the Triple Two business, and the consequential impact of the loss of capital related revenues, has impacted the group’s financial performance for the year ended 31 March 2023, this has been a transformational period for the group,” according to Cooks Coffee executive chairman Keith Jackson.

“We have emerged strongly from the pandemic, which clearly impacted our business,” he added.

Cooks currently operates or franchises Esquires Coffee in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan. The Triple Two Coffee brand currently operates only in the UK.

Total franchise store sales in the UK and Ireland during the last financial year totalled £27.6m (€32.1m), a 24pc increase.

Group royalty income is derived from that turnover. Recurring group income rose 15pc to £2m in the period, while total group revenues of £3.4m fell 10pc.

It posted a net loss of £1.7m, which the group said reflected a write down of receivables and impairment of goodwill.

The price of a cup of coffee jumped for consumers in Europe last year as inflation soared.

The global cost of coffee beans has continued to rise.

Even the price of the Robusta bean that’s used to make instant coffee hit a 12-year high recently as supply from the world’s top producer, Vietnam, declined.