Sergio Costa (23 April 1949 – 24 March 2022) was an Italian-born British businessman. In 1971, he founded the coffeeshop chain

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

with his brother Bruno.

Career

In 1959, Oreste Costa and his family moved from

Borgo Val di Taro Borgo Val di Taro, usually referred to as Borgotaro, (Parmigiano dialect, Parmigiano: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, Emilia, Italy, in the Province of Parma, from the city of Parma. Borgo Val di Taro is an important centr ...

, Italy to Britain, and brought a traditional coffee bean drum roaster with them. In 1971, Sergio and his brother Bruno opened a small coffee roastery in London's

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

, supplying coffee shops and specialist retailers. In 1978, they built a much larger roastery on Old Paradise Street,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, where they remained until 2017. In 1981, they opened their first Costa Coffee shop in London's

Vauxhall Bridge Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of , formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although ...

. By 1995, the chain had grown to 41 UK coffee shops, and was acquired by Whitbread. In 2019,

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

bought the company for US$4.9 billion, and as of 2023, there are 3,401 coffee shops in 31 countries.

Personal life and death

He was married to Iolande Bertorelli, and they had three children, Monica, Marco and Tania, who have all been involved in the coffee business. He died at his home in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, Monaco on 24 March 2022, aged 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Sergio 1949 births 2022 deaths British company founders Businesspeople in coffee Costa Coffee