Coffee retailer brand Costa is brewing up an expansion of its operations here after securing its 12th planning permission for drive-thru operations at its various locations across the island of Ireland.
This follows Costa operator here, MBCC Foods (Ireland) Ltd, securing planning permission for a Costa drive-thru at its existing unit at the Airton Road Retail Park, Airton Road, Dublin 24 as part of company expansion plans here.
The new drive-thru at Costa's Airton Road Retail Park location is part of a "much needed" upgrade of the existing Costa unit there that has been there for eight years.
The planning permission for the drive-thru from South Dublin County Council follows MBCC Foods (Ireland) Ltd securing planning permissions for drive-thru lanes at its locations in Bray Retail Park, Waterford Retail Park, Drogheda Donore Retail Park, Castlebar Retail Park, Tramore Summerhill Tesco, Clearwater Shopping Centre Finglas and Enniskillen Lakelands Retail Park.
Along with the eight planning permissions secured, in a submission lodged with South Dublin Co Council, MBCC Foods (Ireland) Ltd Director Michael Conroy states that in the last 18 months, Costa has successfully opened four drive-thru units across Ireland - at Portlaoise Retail Park, Blackwater Retail Park in Navan, Great Northern Retail Park Omagh and Sprucefield Lisburn.
Mr Conroy states that the company is also in discussions for additional locations, with drive-thru lanes being considered only in suitable environments.
Mr Conroy said that MBCC Foods (Ireland) opened its first Costa outlet in Cork in 2005 and today employs more than 1,500 people at 150 Costa locations both North and South.
He said that "to date, approximately 10% of Costa's estate in Ireland is deemed suitable for the introduction of a drive-thru lane".
Mr Conroy states that the introduction of drive-thru lanes has proven beneficial "at our existing locations such as Blackwater Retail Park in Navan and Portlaoise Retail Park".
He said that "drive-thru sales, which represent under 20% of total sales, are projected to increase by up to 5% with the additional of a dedicated drive-thru lane. Importantly, the impact on customer transactions and traffic flow has been minimal and manageable".
Mr Conroy says that compared to other drive-thru businesses like KFC and McDonald's, Costa’s drive-thru operations are much smaller in scale.
He said that "KFC and McDonald's typically generate 40-60% of their sales through take-out, while Costa’s drive-thru sales make up around 20-25% of total sales.
Mr Conroy said that "this lower take-away volume means fewer cars and less traffic impact, especially when compared to fast food chains".
He said that the four units that have opened to date "have been well received, with no adverse traffic or neighbour impact".
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
