Lagardère Travel Retail has acquired franchise rights for Costa Coffee's stores across Poland and Latvia | Photo credit: Costa Coffee

France-based Lagardère Travel Retail has acquired the franchise rights for Costa Coffee’s 145 stores across Poland and Latvia, pending regulatory approval. 
 

Lagardère Travel Retail currently operates 60 Costa Coffee cafés and 60 Costa Express vending machines in the Czech Republic via a franchise partnership formed in 2008. 
 

“The integration of Costa Coffee's operations in Poland and Latvia is another significant event in our relations with the brand, after projects implemented jointly in other markets,” said Maciej Gajkowski, Managing Director of the foodservice segment at Lagardère Travel Retail. 
 

Gajkowski added that the company’s “operational excellence” and “long presence in Poland” were key factors in extending the franchise partnership. 
 

World Coffee Portal data shows that while Poland’s branded coffee shop market contracted 2.2% by outlets due to pandemic disruption, the market is anticipated to grow 1.7% in 2021 and exceed 1,000 outlets within the next five years, with Costa Coffee the third-largest chain in the country. 
 

Lagardère Travel Retail’s Poland-based foodservice segment also includes 53 So! Coffee cafés, which is the company’s own brand. 
 

Meanwhile, the far smaller Latvian branded coffee shop market is anticipated to exceed 85 stores by 2024, with Costa Coffee currently holding just over one fifth of the market. 
 

Despite disruption caused by the pandemic, the Eastern European branded coffee shop market has broadly continued to expand. In 2020, the Romanian market achieved 29.8% growth, while in Russia the market grew by 16.5%, to overtake France as Europe’s third largest, with around 4,000 outlets. 
 

Founded in Paris in 1852, Lagardère Travel Retail is one of two divisions of parent company Lagardère group. Lagardère Travel Retail operates more than 4,850 stores across travel essentials, duty free and fashion and foodservice. The company has locations in 260 airports and 730 railway stations across 39 countries worldwide, employing 20,000 staff.