Costa Coffee has delivered another excellent performance, according to parent company Whitbread, with total sales up 28% for the 24 weeks to 19 August 2010.

Like-for-like sales for the period increased by 8.3%, “with product innovation in both drinks and food driving strong transaction growth”, said the firm.

Membership of its Costa Coffee Club now stands at over three million, since its launch in March, with over 40% of its customers using the card.

Total sales in its UK franchise stores were up 55.1% to £77.2m, while sales in its international franchise stores were up by 25.6% to £48.6m.

The UK coffee chain has opened a net total of 98 stores in the year to date, including 54 company-operated stores (28 in the UK and 26 internationally) and 44 franchise stores (27 in the UK and 17 internationally).

* Costa Coffee came in at number three in the BB75 update in the 27 August issue of British Baker, with a total of 1,106 stores in July 2010.

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