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Costa and OJSC Rosinter Restaurants Holding "Rosinter" today open Costa's 1,000th store in Moscow's Pushkin Square. The opening of this store marks the arrival of Costa Coffee in Russia.
British Costa is the UK's largest and fastest growing coffee shop chain and plans to open its 700th milestone UK store next month. It now operates over 30 stores overseas in 22 countries (Europe, the Middle East, China and India).
Rosinter is the leading casual dining restaurant chain in Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), operating 216 restaurants in 8 countries and 24 cities.
The new joint venture, formed in December 2007, plans to open 200 Costa stores in Russia over the next 5 years, focusing on Moscow and St Petersburg in its first year, then expanding to other Russian regions thereafter. The partners' initial investment is approximately $10 million and they also intend to open Costa stores in Ukraine and Belarus at a later date. After the first opening, eleven coffee shops currently operated by Rosinter under its proprietary brand Moka Loka will be converted to the Costa brand.
Over 50% of the 11 million people in Moscow visit coffee shops regularly and to date, there is only one other international coffee brand established in Russia. There is a wealthy demographic of young Russians whose average income is growing by 16% per annum. Increasingly, they are spending a higher proportion of their disposable income in coffee shops. This is the market that Costa aims to capture.
Costa Ltd Managing Director John Derkach said: "Costa's arrival in Russia is another milestone on our journey to become a global coffee brand. Rosinter is an ideal partner who brings a wealth of market insight, which will help us to expand quickly, whilst making sure we deliver what Russian customers want. We have studied Russian tastes and have expanded our cake range. We are also working towards introducing a selection of coffee with alcohol."