Costa Coffee abandons Belgian coffee bar ambitions

Costa is closing its first and only coffee bar in Belgium: the flagship store in Liège station. The coffee chain, owned by Coca-Cola, will now only operate in the country on a B2B basis.

Not the expected results

In 2021, Costa announced its arrival in Belgium with great fanfare: the chain would focus on Liège, Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels, with plans to eventually open more than 200 outlets. However, it would take until 2024 before the first Costa coffee bar opened its doors, specifically in Liège-Guillemins station. Costa then expressed its ambition to open at least ten coffee shops, but has now shelved those dreams.

“Although we appreciated the opportunity to operate the store in Liège, it did not deliver the expected operating results,” Costa said. According to De Tijd, the branch was reportedly loss-making. Nevertheless, the chain intends to continue exploring “opportunities in retail” in the future. Costa also remains active in B2B, supplying coffee and coffee machines to offices, hotels, and restaurants, among others.

Costa Coffee is not doing well anyway: owner The Coca-Cola Company wanted to put the coffee formula up for sale after seven years, but even at half the price (2 billion pounds instead of the 3.9 billion pounds paid), Coca-Cola could not find a buyer. Turnover has fallen sharply in recent years and operating losses have doubled to 13.5 million euros in 2024.