Espressolab expands into sixth European market as growth accelerates
Espressolab is heading into a sixth European market, backed by 284 Turkish outlets, a 6,000-square-meter Istanbul roastery and a 1,000-store target.
Espressolab’s push into a sixth European market says as much about Europe’s café map as it does about the brand itself. The Istanbul chain is no longer just a fast-growing Turkish operator with export ambitions. It is becoming a case study in how café growth is now coming from outside Western Europe’s traditional power centers.
The company was founded in 2014 and opened its first store at Istanbul Bilgi University, a campus launch that became the base for a rapid rollout. World Coffee Portal said Espressolab added 25 net new stores in Turkey in the 12 months to March 2026, taking its home-market total to 284 outlets. Across the group, the company says it now operates more than 400 stores in Turkey and overseas, with previous checks showing 390 stores across 17 countries in September 2025 and 400 global stores after the Kazakhstan launch in October 2025.
Europe is central to the scale story. Espressolab says the continent is part of its goal to reach 1,000 stores globally by 2027, and the sixth European market entry fits that push. The brand is not selling itself as a generic chain. It positions itself as a premium coffee group built on specialty sourcing, a bakery concept and workshops that make the store feel closer to a coffee destination than a simple takeaway stop. That matters in a market where the winning formula is increasingly about repeatability, not just a decent flat white.
The company has also built serious infrastructure behind the brand. Its Merter roastery in Istanbul spans 6,000 square meters and is described by Espressolab as Europe’s largest coffee shop and experience center. World Coffee Portal reported in 2022 that the €5 million facility was expected to lift roasting capacity by 17% per month, a signal that this is a chain scaling from the factory floor as much as from the storefront.
Espressolab’s growth has not come without friction. On March 25, 2025, Republican People’s Party leader Özgür Özel included the chain in a boycott call amid protests that followed the March 18 detention and March 23 arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Esat Kocadağ later said the boycott cut turnover by 22% and said, “We do not do politics, we make coffee.” The company was later removed from the CHP boycott list after talks with the company and young customers.
That is the real story behind the sixth European market: Espressolab is not just planting flags. It is trying to prove that a Turkish café chain can turn specialty coffee, campus roots and a giant Istanbul roastery into a brand that travels.
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