KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Here is some good news for coffee lovers — Costa Coffee, the second largest coffee brand in the world, is now available in Malaysia through Costa Coffee’s partnership with Shell Malaysia.
Costa coffee is available through a self-serve vending machine available at Shell Select outlets, so you can grab that precious morning coffee and have it on your way to work with minimum delay and fuss. At present, there are 71 locations where Costa Coffee is available, but the total number of Shell Select outlets carrying Costa coffee will expand to 200 in the next 12 months, with many more to follow.
Personally I am not a coffee person, but I had a Flat White and a Latte later at the launch site in Kota Damansara — the Latte is as good as any you can get at any of the more established coffee places. The Flat White Costa Coffee made me an instant convert — it is really good, not too over-powering, but nice and strong, best taken with a little sugar.
Purists might scoff at the thought of coffee from a vending machine, but this machine is somewhat of a work of art, designed by Italian Design house Pininfarina, better known for their car designs, but now we know that they also do industrial designs. I suppose the real secret would be the software involved in the making of the coffee –— depending on the menu selection you make, the machine dispenses the exact amount of coffee, and the correct amount of hot water at the correct temperature. You can choose Costa’s signature blend, Italian mocha, freshly ground for every cup served. Boasting over 200 combinations, the opportunity to customise a drink is endless; from adding fresh milk, to selecting indulgent flavoured syrups. There is even an iced drink range.
Costa Coffee was founded in 1971, and is a partner to Shell in the UK. Scott Martin, Managing Director of Costa Express said, “We are delighted to extend our global presence with our launch in Malaysia, a dynamic, desirable and thriving country with an established coffee culture. The scale of Shell in Malaysia, as well as our well established multi-market partnership gave us the ideal platform from which to roll out our brand. Through our partnership with Shell and our world-leading on-the-go proposition, we will transform customer perception about the quality of on-the-go coffee available in Shell Select stores, just as we did in the UK, increasing the appeal of Shell sites to their customers and giving customers more reasons to visit more often.”
Shairan Huzani Husain, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd said, “Shell places customers at the heart of everything we do, and our retail mission is to make their life’s journeys better by giving them one less worry on the road. We’re continuously upgrading our stores to include a food oasis so our customers can have a better retail experience on-the-go. Our food oasis offers quality pastries from Deli2go that are baked fresh in-store every day, alongside other options from local and international food and beverage providers.”
