Costa Coffee expands UK reach with 10-year cinema deal

Costa Coffee has locked in a 10-year partnership with Cineworld that will put the chain in up to 26 UK cinema locations, replacing existing Starbucks stores and pushing the brand deeper into high-footfall leisure space. The first sites are due to open from summer 2026, with the rollout continuing through the year and the majority of locations expected by the end of 2026.

The move is more than a simple site swap. Cineworld said all cinemas with an existing Starbucks store will transition to Costa Coffee, making this a brand replacement inside a format that already works as a built-in coffee occasion. Moviegoers are a captive audience by design: they arrive ready to spend, linger in foyers, and often buy drinks and snacks before or after the film. For coffee chains, that kind of predictable dwell time can be just as valuable as a busy high street corner.

Costa is clearly treating the cinema channel as a strategic extension of its everyday café business. On its own website, the company says it has been voted the UK’s Nation’s Favourite coffee shop for a record-breaking 16th consecutive year, based on a survey of more than 5,000 UK coffee drinkers. That kind of brand strength matters in leisure venues, where visibility and habit-building can turn a cup of coffee into part of the entertainment ritual, not just the morning commute.

Cineworld has also already framed hot drinks as part of the cinema experience. Its food-and-drink pages say hot drinks are available in the majority of its cinemas and that Starbucks had been available at select locations, positioned as a place to relax, discuss the film or grab a coffee on the way to work. Costa is stepping into a familiar concession slot, but with a longer-term commitment and a different brand on the fascia.

The 10-year term suggests Costa is not chasing a one-off promotional boost. It is securing a durable presence inside one of the UK’s largest multiplex networks, with Cineworld describing itself as a leading UK cinema chain and its broader Cineworld and Regal group operating in 10 countries as the world’s second-largest cinema chain by number of screens. For Costa, the real prize may be less about the number of cups sold on day one than about owning another default add-on purchase in a setting where coffee already makes sense. In cinema foyers, brand theater can be as important as the movie on screen.