Caffè Nero to open a new fl agship store.

Caffè Nero to open a new flagship store

Caffè Nero has announced that it is to open a new flagship store at Stansted airport and resume its UK new store openings programme.

The brand will open new stores in Stansted and Belfast Airports this summer with a further six new store openings scheduled in the coming months. It is actively considering more new sites to restart its new store openings programme.

The Stansted Airport store, which was won via tender process and replaces Starbucks, is located in the International Departure Lounge and is due to open in June after an investment of more than £750K. It will have a new premium bespoke design across its 1800 square foot and create more than 25 new jobs.

Concurrently, Caffè Nero will build and open a flagship store in Belfast City Airport. This opening, also expected in June 2022, replaces Costa and will be the largest coffee outlet in the airport. Located in the main concourse for arrivals landside at the airport, the store will likewise have a stunning bespoke design across its 2,100 square footage and will be Caffè Nero’s first store in an airport in Northern Ireland.

Both airport stores are part of a post-Covid renewed store openings programme by Caffè Nero as it restarts its growth engines. A further six stores will be opened across the UK by early summer. These openings will be located in urban centres and market town locations, with additional new sites being scoped and screened for further openings later in the year.

Founder and Group CEO, Gerry Ford, commented: “We’re thankful and delighted to have the opportunity to serve customers in both these airports. I hope and trust that our new airport stores will excite passengers and visitors alike. Both airports are predicting passenger numbers will exceed pre-pandemic numbers in the coming years, so these are important sites for us to win.

“As the UK emerges from pandemic restrictions, we are looking to return to growth by resuming our store openings programme. We have several new stores in the pipeline scheduled to open over the coming weeks and I’m excited by all of them. Customers are talking with their feet and we are already seeing customer numbers increase week by week. We will be looking at other new sites moving forward as there seem to be a lot of very good opportunities out there.”

Kite Packaging invest in a new fleet of delivery lorries

Kite Packaging says that it has elevated its enterprise with the introduction of eight new delivery vehicles in order to continue their rapid levels of growth.

This investment will supplement the vast increase in demand for Kite’s packaging products, allowing the business to maintain their quick delivery turnaround. Currently, Kite has a standard two to four working day delivery which is free for orders over £100 and the option to upgrade to next working day delivery for an additional fee.

The updated trucks are the latest specification DAF 18 tonne Euro 6 rigid body lorries with a combination of tail lifts and towbars. The lorries will be stationed at the North East, Rotherham, Midlands, Swindon, Letchworth and Portsmouth Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs). Therefore, this development will have significant impacts across the country, empowering Kite to have a greater allround accessibility to its customers.

As the only employee share-owned business in its sector, Kite claims to have an unrivalled commitment to excellent service; a goal that is facilitated by this investment into high-quality resource. The expansion of delivery vehicles will be instrumental in granting businesses the materials they require efficiently to fulfil their own orders and experience their own growth.

Dawn’s new campaign to celebrate our bakery heritage

Celebrating the fantastic bakes and inspirational bakers from around the UK and Ireland is the theme of this year’s marketing focus from Dawn Foods.

Their Celebrating Our Nation’s Bakes campaign will take bakers and caterers on a sweet treats tour of the UK and Ireland, discovering traditional and more unusual recipes from England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Different ‘hero’ recipes featuring bakes such as Empire Biscuits, Monmouth Pudding, Devon Apple Cake and Guinness Cake, all re-created using Dawn ingredients, will be unveiled on a specially created map on the Dawn web site, and throughout the year there will be opportunities for bakers and caterers to get involved with the campaign, sharing their own local recipes, and taking part in the social media conversation around each region’s bakes.

There will be prize draws for bakers and caterers to win bakery related prizes such as oven gloves, Baker’s Toolkits and other campaign themed items. One lucky baker will also have the chance to go on a UK road trip where they can sample some of our nation’s great bakes, as Dawn is also offering a voucher for a seven-day luxury holiday in a fully equipped motorhome as its top competition prize.

Students on the Bakery & Patisserie Technology degree course at University College Birmingham (UCB) will also be sharing bakery recipes from their home regions and how they can be re-imagined for the modern consumer. These may include making an item vegan, gluten free, reducing sugar or giving it a contemporary twist.

Jacqui Passmore, marketing manager UK and Ireland at Dawn Foods said: “Reduced travelling brought about by the global pandemic has meant that many of us have had time to focus on what is around us, whether that’s the beautiful rolling countryside, vibrant cities, or the coast, and of course the food heritage that is embedded in our national identity. Traditional British bakery is making a big comeback as consumers take comfort in their own heritage and roots.

“Bakers, of course, have always been the bedrock of every community and we wanted to focus on the sweet bakes that are synonymous with different areas of the UK and Ireland. As well as showcasing recipes that bakers and caterers will be familiar with, we also wanted to give them new inspiration to try recipes they may not have heard of, and with the help of UCB bakery students, insight into how they can re-invent those bakes for the modern consumer. Also in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, celebrating Our Nation’s Bakes couldn’t be more appropriate!”

Selecta announces new partnership with Thermoplan

Selecta has announced a new partnership with Thermoplan, a global player in the development and production of fully automatic coffee machines.

Selecta is best known for its broad range of vending and self-serve machines, offering innovative 24/7 vendor solutions. With its Coffee Corners, the company sells 700 million cups of coffee in 16 European countries every year, and the new collaboration with Swiss coffee machine manufacturer, Thermoplan, is a step into a future in which coffee will be an even tastier experience, say the company.

Selecta’s new partner Thermoplan Inc. was founded in 1974 as a family-run firm by Esther and Domenic Steiner. In 1995, the company ventured into the coffee machine business and has since evolved into one of the global market leaders in this sector. Thermoplan has also made a name for itself in milk processing and was the first company to develop a milk frother, which can prepare cold milk foam at the touch of a button. For Selecta, the unique quality of milk foam and milk drinks, which Thermoplan has developed in recent years, is a strong feature of the new cooperation.

“The one and only purpose of our business is making people feel great. Every day! And this means, if you want a really good cup of coffee, you will get it because we have everything it takes – high-quality beans, hand-selected roasts, best machines, served to perfection,” said Tjerry Sanders, category manager at Selecta. “Our goal is that in the future there will be no more morning grouches because our coffee is simply too good.”

Thermoplan has been equipping the Starbucks chain since 1999, their advanced technologies now offering Selecta the opportunity to further optimise their range, particularly as part of their We Proudly Serve - Starbucks® Coffee Program. With the largest network of service engineers and operators in Europe, they claim, Selecta distributes the new Starbucks self-serve concept, so consumers can enjoy Starbucks beverages on the go, in their workplace, and more. Thermoplan coffee machines will be launched exclusively for Selecta’s Starbucks solutions and introduced step by step in the individual regions.