Caffè Nero

Caffè Nero Group Ltd.
Private company limited by shares
Industry Coffee shops
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Number of locations
 Increase 589 (2013/14)
Key people
Products Espresso based coffees
Frappé Latte
Tea
Revenue Increase £227.9 million GBP (2013/4)[1]
Subsidiaries Harris + Hoole
Website www.caffenero.com

Caffè Nero (officially Caffè Nero Group Ltd) is a British European style coffee house brand headquartered in London, England. It was founded in 1997 by Gerry Ford and the original branch was at 66 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington. Currently, the company runs more than 825 coffee houses in nine countries: the UK, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman, and the United States. Caffè Nero's parent company is based in Luxembourg.[2]

"Caffè Nero" is Italian for "black coffee".

History

Wandsworth Bridge Road Caffè Nero

Caffè Nero was founded in 1997 and in March 2001 joined the London Stock Exchange under the symbol CFN. In early 2007, the company was the subject of a management buy-out by the newly formed Rome Bidco Ltd and taken private.[3] Since 2007, the company expanded to Turkey in 2007, the UAE in 2009, Poland in 2012, Cyprus in 2013, and Ireland and the United States in 2014.

Caffè Nero has won many accolades for its high quality coffee. It was rated by Allegra Strategies as having the highest coffee quality among coffee brands in the UK for eight years consecutively. In 2013, Caffè Nero's coffee was rated best tasting among five major UK brands by experts at the independent consumer magazine Which?[4]

On 2 November 2016 Caffè Nero CEO Gerry Ford and Michael Rolph, CRO of mobile payment solution company Yoyo Wallet, announced a partnership between the two companies to facilitate the latter's new role as Caffè Nero's mobile payment and loyalty strategy partner.[5] As a result of this partnership, the Caffé Nero loyalty and payment app was launched on 10 April 2017.[6]

The company's founders started the Nero Foundation to support coffee-growing communities and local communities located near to where it has stores. Funds from the Foundation will be invested to enhance community amenities, such as schools in rural areas where the company sources its coffee beans. Caffè Nero also encourages its staff to support local causes that are close to their heart. The company has a commitment to provide funds up to the equivalent amount raised by employees for local good causes.

Products

The company states it buys coffee from traders who have direct relationships with farmers and pay a "fair" price.[7]

The company has a reward scheme for customers. Each time a coffee is purchased, the customer's loyalty card is stamped with the 'Nero Coffee Bean Logo'. Once a card has nine stamps, the bearer is entitled to a free drink.[8]

Controversy

Caffè Nero has not paid any corporation tax in the UK since 2007 and has been subject to ongoing criticism.[2][9] The BBC reported that "Caffe Nero has previously rejected accusations that its complex corporate structure involving various holding companies is designed to avoid corporation tax." and "There is no suggestion that Caffe Nero has done anything illegal."[9]

A number of the company's shops have either had planning permission controversies and/or enforcement action taken. Caffè Nero have been accused of "bully-boy tactics"[10] following the opening of several stores in the United Kingdom, without the required planning permission. However, all 11 stores where there have been planning permission issues have subsequently been granted planning permission.

In May 2015, the company said that they will stop serving milk from farms in Gloucestershire's badger cull areas following intimidation from animal-rights activists. On 29 May 2015, the company said: "Caffè Nero has instructed its partners supplying to stores which are situated around the cull zone areas to supply milk from farms outside of the zone.[11] On 7 July 2015, rats were videoed scurrying along the floor and counter in their Donegall Square West unit in Belfast, despite having previously been awarded a four out of possible five star rating by inspectors from Belfast City Council. Having been notified of the incident, the store was closed for a full investigation and has subsequently reopened; the source of the infestation was an adjacent disused building.[12] A 2017 study by the BBC found trace amounts of faecal bacteria in Caffè Nero's iced drinks, alongside those of Starbucks and Costa Coffee.[13]

In June 2018 Polish State Sanitary Inspectorate and media reported 63 adults and 10 children having been poisoned (21 of whom were hospitalized) after eating salmonella-contaminated cakes served in a number of Caffè Neros in Warsaw, Cracow and Wroclaw.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ citation needed
  2. 1 2 http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-5485883/Caff-Nero-288m-sales-did-not-bean-tax.html
  3. ↑ https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-caffe-nero-takeover/caffe-nero-agrees-to-management-buyout-idUKWLA618520061207
  4. ↑ "Which coffee shop chain serves the tastiest coffee?". Which.co.uk. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Yoyo Wallet selected as mobile payment and loyalty strategy partner for Caffè Nero". Businessmole. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Caffë Nero: The app is much more about utility than it is about brand content". Mobile Marketing. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Caffè Nero". Caffenero.com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Caffè Nero's got a whole latte love". Real Business. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27291283
  10. ↑ "Planners say 'no' to Caffè Nero in Skipton (From Craven Herald)". Cravenherald.co.uk. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Caffè Nero bans 'badger cull' milk after animal rights threats". Gloucester Citizen. 1 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Caffè Nero Council visit after rats filmed". BBC News. 5 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Davis, Nicola (28 June 2017). "Faecal bacteria found in ice from Costa, Caffè Nero and Starbucks". the Guardian.
  14. ↑ "Sanepid: 73 przypadki zachorowań, w tym 10 dzieci". warszawawpigulce.pl. 11 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "Komunikat nr 4: Zatrucie pokarmowe w sieci kawiarni Green Caffe Nero" (PDF). pssewawa.pl. 11 June 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.