IzyCoffee aims to challenge Starbucks and Costa Coffee in Europe

IzyCoffee will soon be opening its ninth and tenth branches in Antwerp and Ghent, respectively. The ambitions of founder Bart Buyse are substantial: with his trendy coffeehouse chain, he wants to give giants such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee a run for their money.

Towards 50 branches

IzyCoffee saw the light of day in 2018, back when Buyse served local commuters with a coffee truck in Izegem, a city in West Flanders. Under a bridge near the station, customers could enjoy high-quality coffees.

In the meantime, the company has grown into a coffeehouse chain consisting of eight branches. Before the Christmas holidays, new branches will be opened on the Meir in Antwerp and the Langemunt in Ghent.

Yet, Buyse’s hunger for expansion is far from satisfied. By next year, he aims to have fifty branches. To finance this expansion, he raised 1.2 million euros. Before the following summer, there will be new coffee shops in several cities, including Leuven, Mechelen, Genk and Aalst. During the second half of the year, IzyCoffee also wants to open branches in the main Belgian railway stations.

Challenger

Additionally, Buyse has his sights set on going abroad. “In the long term, we want to become the number one quality coffee bar chain in western Europe with IzyCoffee, and in doing so compete primarily with players such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee”, he told Belgian newspaper De Standaard.

How does Buyse explain IzyCoffee’s massive success? “We bring the highest quality speciality coffee to people in an original, cosmopolitan but especially funky way.”