5 reasons why I prefer @_CaffeNero to @CostaCoffee

I do like my coffee. With a croissant for breakfast, mid morning or after lunch. Frequently this means that I’m in Caffe Nero or Costa Coffee. I’ve got a loyalty card for each of them but if there’s a choice I’ll always got to Caffe Nero. Why?

Here’s my five reasons (and I realise that they maybe say more about me than them):

1. Baristas at Caffe Nero multi-task. My heart sinks when I see a queue in a coffee shop (click here for an earlier post on this subject) but in Caffe Nero the baristas seem to be able to serve more than one person at a time. Not so Costa where the response to a queue seems to be to implement a production line whereby one person takes the order and another makes the coffee. Then you’ve lost the mood of a coffee shop and your in, well, a factory.
2. The music’s better at Caffe Nero. I don’t seem to register any music from Costa but at Caffe Nero it’s always cool jazz or light classical.
3. Caffe Nero doesn’t do Caffe Nero Express. Don’t know why Costa does this because rule number one when you want to extend your brand is to make sure that it reinforces your brand values. Offering an inferior coffee down an alternative sales channel under the same brand name doesn’t seem to do that. Coffee doesn’t taste right out of a paper cup anyway but Costa Express coffee is pretty grim. Well done Caffe Nero for not compromising.
4. Loyalty means loyalty at Caffe Nero. Not so at Costa if you use one of its franchised outlets. I’ve blogged about this before (click here) but there was a time when Costa would not recognise a purchase if it was made at one of its franchisee stores. That seemed to be cheating to me because loyalty should cut both ways.
5. Caffe Nero is an independant. Coffee shops is what it does. Whereas Costa is owned by Whitbread which ‘is the UK’s largest hotel, restaurant and coffee shop operator with 43,000 employees who are passionate about making everyday experiences special for our millions of customers both in the UK and overseas’.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Costa Coffee. I use the drive through at the Caxton Gibbet (if I’ve got a meeting at South Cambs where all they offer is instant) and I frequently plan my early morning business travel so that I can grab breakfast at a convenient Costa outlet. But the point is: if there’s a choice I go to Caffe Nero.

But at least neither chain is Starbuck’s. I don’t buy coffee in Starbuck’s because it doesn’t pay fair UK taxes and it serves coffee in mugs and not cups.