Triple Two Coffee expecting 40 UK sites by end-2021, exploring Ireland debut
The chain is currently opening a store almost every week, its managing director said.
Triple Two Coffee is on course to have around 50 sites in the UK by the end of year, as it currently executes a plan to open 20 franchise-operated stores — almost one a week.
Newport, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Bristol, Soho and Southend are just some of the locations the specialty coffee chain's entering into, managing director David Hodgetts told QSR Media. Outlets in Milton Keynes, Kingston opened its doors in past weeks.
"I'm 99.99999% sure that there won't be another food and drink business doing 20-odd shops in 20-24 weeks," he said.
Hodgetts cited lower cost acquisitions and residential developments as a major part of their location strategy, wanting to have 80% of their network within those categories. The other 20% will revolve around suitable locations in the high street.
"It's going to cost the franchisees a lot less money to open and we can open them quicker so...they don't have to worry as much on their return on investment," he explained.
Hodgetts also envisions a third of their stores to sell alcohol, observing a higher spend in their Royal Wharf store that is already selling cocktails.
He also wants their menu innovation to be "site-dependent" and is considering a hot range for delivery to get a bite of off-premise transactions.
Hodgetts is also looking at international expansion by early next year, revealing that conversations had been made about a potential master franchise agreement for Ireland.
Ramping up on retail
The ongoing expansion coincides with the chain's planned rollout of their mobile coffee vans, which starts this June, and an ongoing subscription service. Hodgetts also said the chain is ramping up its retail strategy, planning to trial a vending machine model within the next three months in a bid to attract convenience stores and petrol stations.
"We can start with our pilot and, hopefully, we can slowly start to get [the machines] into different locations," he said.
Triple Two recently signed off on a new, compostable style of Nespresso capsules, arriving over the next months, with Hodgetts eyeing to compete with similar offerings in supermarkets before the end of the year as a means to reach the at home market and increase brand awareness. Bespoke coffee bags are also part of Hodgetts' goal for the chain.
"We just reviewed what we were doing and decided that we need to have more variety in flavour on offer for the supermarket shelves" he explained. "More and more people want quality coffee...we are trying to bring speciality coffee on a commercial level."
