Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
3 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Costa’s main coffee shop arm has returned to an operating profit after revamping its high street outlets and broadening its menu with iced drinks, matcha and fresher pastries.
asserted
arm → return → drinks
The chain, which has 2,700 outlets in the UK and Ireland out of 4,000 globally, and employs about 20,000 people, also opened a net 50 new outlets in the UK last year – its first net increase in several years.
asserted
which → have → years
It plans a further 50 new UK outlets this year, including more drive-throughs and high street outlets.
asserted
It → plan → throughs
Demand from younger consumers for decaffeinated coffee and other options is driving sales growth amid concerns about drinking caffeine in the afternoon, while there is heavy competition on classic coffees from companies such as Greggs, Gail’s, Caffè Nero and numerous smaller operators.
asserted
Demand → drive → Greggs
Costa says it is now the largest seller of matcha via cafes in the UK.
asserted
it → say → UK
The Costa Ltd arm made an operating profit of £20m in the year to 31 December 2025 after losses of £13.5m in 2024 and £5.8m the year before, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
uncertain
arm → make → House
Revenues rose 5% to almost £1.3bn compared with 1% growth in 2024.
asserted
Revenues → rise → 2024
The strong performance helped global sales at Costa Group – which also sells coffee beans and pods in supermarkets and coffee machines to households, as well as operating commercial machines in homes and offices – rise by 3.5% to £1.74bn, and global operating profit increase 30% to £101m.
Philippe Schaillee, the chief executive of Costa, said the chain had experienced the strongest growth in visits in a decade.
Sipping a Velvetino, a low-calorie iced coffee popular with younger drinkers, Schaillee said: “The coffee shop is increasingly a destination for morning and afternoon.
asserted
shop → help → morning
People not only want caffeine but iced herbal teas and those drinks that people will drink in the afternoon and evening.”
asserted
people → want → afternoon
Showing off Costa’s new headquarters in St Albans, Hertfordshire, which will have space for 300 workers when it opens in January, he said it “really signals our confidence in the business”.
asserted
it → show → business
Costa plans to remodel about 250 stores a year after updating more than 1,200 of 1,700 company-owned outlets.
asserted
Costa → plan → outlets
That includes adding more digital self-order kiosks, which are already in 200 UK outlets.
asserted
which → include → outlets
The group is also selling more Podio office coffee machines, which launched in May and are intended to be “a barista in your office”.
uncertain
which → sell → office
Schaillee said Costa was already the UK’s third biggest brand in home coffee machines, and said the potential there was “limitless”.
asserted
potential → say → machines
Costa’s campaign to flag its strong performance comes after its owner, Coca-Cola, in February officially confirmed it had abandoned plans to sell the chain after bids failed to meet its expectations.
asserted
bids → flag → expectations
Coca-Cola had high hopes for Britain’s largest coffee chain when it bought it for £3.9bn in 2018 from Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn hotels.
asserted
it → have → hotels
However, since then the chain has struggled in the face of rising costs, particularly the increase in coffee bean prices, and competition on UK high streets.
asserted
chain → struggle → streets
Schaillee said coffee production – and potentially prices – remained high and could be affected by the El Niño global climate phenomenon, which is affecting coffee and cocoa growers in Latin and South America.
uncertain
which → say → America
“We need to be prepared for that,” he said.
asserted
he → need → that
The Aporia
