Why is Costa being allowed to open coffee bars in schools?

MOST mornings, Saskia Pearson’s ten-year- old son would awake groggy and bleary-eyed and announce to his mum: ‘I need a coffee.’ It was an astonishing start to the day for such a young boy, but what is more incredible still is that Jake’s caffeine dependency had developed at a Costa Coffee outlet in a local school.

Jake, now 12, was at the time a pupil at an independent primary school in Hampstead, North London, and would visit friends on his way home at the nearby private university College School, which is one of 70 schools with its own Costa Coffee concession or vending machines.

‘The Costa Bar is in the school’s sports centre, which is open after school while there are clubs and activities going on,’ says Saskia.

‘He and his friends saw the bigger children drinking coffee and it became the “cool” thing to do. Strictly speaking, the coffee bar is for sixth-formers and people using the sports centre, but I don’t think anyone checks, especially after school.

‘So he started drinking lattes and cappuccinos. At first I thought it was all right as an occasional treat but after a while I realised that it was getting out of control. He was acting like a stressed-out adult. I put a stop to it right away.’

Saskia, 35, is angry at what she sees as the cynical exploitation of children by Costa, which last year made more than £807 million and is opening coffee shops in the UK at the rate of three a week.

‘Jake would never have got into drinking coffee at such a young age if the Costa concession hadn’t been in a school,’ says Saskia. ‘School should be a safe place, not one where big businesses can promote unhealthy products to children.’

So how has this sudden surge in coffee bar concessions in schools come about?

While parents who can afford private education have the choice to opt for schools without ready access to caffeineladen Americanos, those with children in state schools do not.

There are a number of state schools with Costa outlets including Hadley Learning Community in Telford, Shropshire; Hinchingbrooke School in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire; Appleton School in Benfleet, Essex; Greenford High in West London; Wren Academy in North London; Highams Park School in East London; Xaverian College in Manchester; and North Durham Academy in Stanley, County Durham.

In most cases they are introduced by catering companies, such as Sodexo and Chartwells, which provide school meals. These firms pay to become Costa franchisees and, in turn, make money from selling coffee in schools. It is unclear whether the schools themselves profit.

It’s a particularly attractive proposition, not least because the products sold are 20 per cent cheaper than on the High Street, owing to their VAT exemption as they’re being served to children.

UNSURPRISINGLY, perhaps, Costa says it has ‘seen an increase in the number of [ school] catering teams approaching us directly.’

‘In all instances the college, school or their caterer will come to us,’ a spokesman said.

According to new figures from parent company Whitbread, Costa Enterprises, the branch which includes its coffee business, has seen sales rise by 18.5 per cent to £79.5 million in the first quarter of this year.

Paul Stafford, from the British Franchise Association, says that, aside from raising the company’s profile among coffee drinkers of the future, the benefit to Costa is the money it makes from selling its franchise to catering companies that supply the schools.

The caterers are also obliged to buy raw materials from Costa.

‘Any profits made from the outlet would usually go straight to the catering company as franchisee,’ says Mr Stafford. So what’s in it for the schools? A Sodexo spokeswoman says coffee outlets in schools are an ‘ emerging trend’ because ‘schools encourage their sixthform students to remain in school when they have breaks.

‘Sodexo has a wholesale agreement with Costa which enables the company to serve Costa products. We are provided with everything from the machines, beans, milk and cups.’

She didn’t know what profit they would make from Costa bars in schools but ‘it’s not something we would comment on’.

She also said she didn’t know how or if the profits were split between the school, the catering company and Costa.

Dr Antony Faccinello is senior deputy head of Alleyn’s, a smart private school in South London. He says the outlet at his school has proved popular with adults visiting the theatre that is also housed on site, as well as with sixth-formers and younger pupils who may visit after school.

He insists, however, that the outlet doesn’t raise any additional money for the school.

‘A parent asked me on open day whether it was ethical to have a company like Costa in our school,’ says Dr Faccinello. ‘I think that if you are going to drink coffee, then you might as well drink a decent brand.

‘Our Costa was set up when we built a new theatre which is used by students as well as the general public. It’s a good facility.

‘We do monitor the pupils carefully, however, to make sure that they don’t buy more than two per day. The younger pupils tend to buy hot chocolate and cookies. We are also looking at a policy whereby the older pupils can only buy caffeinated drinks in the morning. After first break they would have to have decaf.’

One of the secrets of Costa’s success must certainly be excellent forward planning. Already an unmissable presence in garages, service stations and hospitals, the company appears to have turned its attention to the youngest and most impressionable members of society.

PAUL Kilvington, owner of The Branding Experts, which works with some of Britain’s top independent schools, says he would advise clients considering an outlet to ‘proceed with caution’.

‘Why is Costa keen to get in schools? Effectively it is a marketing exercise to build brand loyalty,’ says Mr Kilvington. ‘If children drink Costa at school, they are more likely to choose Costa over the competition.’

Fiona Spotswood, a lecturer in the Business School at the university of the West of England, who has researched marketing to children, agrees.

‘What Costa is trying to do here is secure loyal customers at a ridiculously early age,’ says Ms Spotswood. ‘There has been a lot of research into bank accounts and mobile phones which shows it is effective.

‘Children make a connection between consumption and popularity: You have to wear the right clothes, own the right phone and why not drink the right sort of coffee?

‘This sort of branded marketing is insidious because children don’t have the critical faculties to make informed choices.’

Aside from what critics would regard as blatant exploitation, there is also the implication for health. Astonishingly, it is possible to notch up in excess of 3,000 calories — more than a full day’s allowance for a grown man — in one Costa drink: a large mocha latte with extra cream, syrup and a chocolate flake.

In a country with a growing child obesity problem, this is surely a serious concern.

Dr Amina Selmi-Aitsi, who specialises in public health and obesity, believes there are ‘ alarming ramifications’ to Costa’s presence in our schools.

‘We want children to develop good nutritional habits, so what are we teaching them if we’re selling them sugary coffee?’ she says. ‘We know that coffee can have addictive properties, as does sugar, so this can be a doubly potent drink.

‘If I were a coffee marketer, I would think it genius to get children buying my products so early in their lives.’

Fortunately, Saskia Pearson stepped in before her son became too dependent on coffee, given that caffeine withdrawal can cause symptoms including violent headaches, nausea and the shakes.

But other children in state schools up and down the country who are developing expensive habits, courtesy of the taxpayer, may not be so fortunate.