Wed 19th Oct 2022 - Caffè Nero reports sales now 107% of 2019 levels, plans seven new UK openings before end of year Caffè Nero reports sales now 107% of 2019 levels, plans seven new UK openings before end of year: Caffè Nero has reported strong trading for the first four months of its financial year (June-September 2022), including strong like-for-like sales growth, taking sales to 107% of pre-pandemic levels. During the period, Caffè Nero opened 14 new stores at a group level across its various different territories. Four of those have opened in the UK, including a flagship store in Stansted airport. Located in the international departure lounge, the store had the highest level of sales in its first week of any Caffè Nero outlet in history. The group is forecasting it will open a further 18 new stores during the second quarter, with seven of those opening in the UK. The group also began a major refurbishment programme that saw an initial 200 stores upgraded over the past six months, 140 of which were in the UK, with a further 60 stores scheduled for refurbishment during the next three months. In the UK, Caffè Nero continued to grow transactions via its mobile app with more than 30% of all UK store transactions now taking place via the app and in excess of two million people now using it in the UK. Between June and September, Caffè Nero also continued the expansion of its delivery sales in the UK, adding Just Eat as a delivery partner to join UberEats, driving growth in delivery sales during the same period by 10%. The company stated: “Despite the strong progress the company has made during the current financial year, substantial economic headwinds have emerged during recent weeks suggesting the business faces a challenging winter ahead. Nonetheless, our strong new partnership collaborations will assist us in getting through this period. These partnerships include Compare The Market, Vitality,’3’ and, the recently announced, Waitrose tie-up.” Caffè Nero founder and group chief executive, Gerry Ford, said: “We’ve seen a very encouraging first quarter of sales. Customers really embraced our new range of iced drinks during the hot summer with sales up 55% like-for-like, the iced pistachio latte being particularly popular. We also saw very strong coffee sales throughout and growth in food attachment. Despite the challenging conditions the whole country is facing, I’m confident we can have a successful autumn and winter and capitalise on strong new brand partnerships, an exciting festive menu and our new store openings programme.”