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Sales of Starbucks competitor Costa in the UK are up 7.1 per cent this fall

Published: 2026-02-04 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/02/04, Over the weekend, the British anti-tax avoidance and anti-reduction organization UK Uncut organized a demonstration outside 40 Starbucks coffee shops to protest against Starbucks' tax avoidance. Sales of its comparable rival Costa Coffee Coffee in the UK have risen 7.1% year on year in the past three months, compared with earlier this year.

Last weekend, the British anti-tax avoidance and anti-cutting organization UK Uncut organized a demonstration outside 40 Starbucks coffee shops to protest against Starbucks' tax avoidance. Sales of its comparable competitor, Costa Coffee, in the UK have risen 7.1 per cent in the past three months from a year earlier, compared with 6.8 per cent earlier this year.

Andy Harrison, chief executive of Whitbread Group, the veteran hotel management company that owns Costa Coffee, said: "for a time, we were the most popular coffee shop in the UK, and now we are still the favorite coffee shop for tax collectors."

He said Costa Coffee's growth could not be attributed to the debate over Starbucks taxes. But he pointed out that last week, the number of customers and sales of Costa Cafe in the UK hit record highs of 3.8 million and 10 million, respectively.

Starbucks paid only 8.6 million pounds (86.33 million yuan) in taxes during his 14 years of operating in the UK, according to a Reuters survey in October. Costa Coffee, which had similar sales in the UK last year, paid 1500 pounds (150.72 million yuan).

(responsible Editor: Leo)