Cooks Coffee UK Sales Surge 22.8% to £43.1m as Tesco Deal Drives Esquires Expansion Plan

The Quick Take

• Cooks Coffee Company (Aquis-listed) reported a 22.8% surge in UK and Ireland store sales to £43.1m for the year ending March 2026
• A new deal with Tesco supermarkets was a key driver of the revenue jump, expanding Esquires Coffee's retail footprint
• The company is targeting 300 stores as the Tesco partnership provides a scalable rollout channel for the franchise model

Cooks Coffee Company delivered a 22.8% annual sales surge in its UK and Ireland operations as a freshly signed Tesco distribution deal materially lifted store count and revenue. The £43.1 million top-line result for the year to March 2026 demonstrates the strategic value of aligning with a supermarket anchor partner to accelerate franchise rollout at lower capital cost than standalone street-level openings.

The Tesco partnership model has proven highly scalable for food and beverage franchisors — comparable to Greggs' historic grocery channel expansion — as it provides access to millions of daily supermarket shoppers without the lease risk of high-street locations. At a 300-store target, Cooks Coffee would roughly double its current estate, with the Tesco channel providing inventory-light volume needed to fund that growth. Pre-tax earnings recovery is the key remaining test before the Aquis listing attracts broader institutional interest.

Watch Cooks Coffee's half-year update for whether Tesco store counts are tracking ahead of the 300-store roadmap and whether franchise operator economics are sustainable at scale. Pre-tax profit trajectory will be the critical valuation catalyst — the market will re-rate the stock only when earnings visibility matches revenue momentum. The macro variable is the UK consumer spending environment: any weakening in casual dining and coffee spend would slow the franchise rollout.

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