Costa Coffee sustainability score: 39/100
Costa Coffee is a UK-based café chain founded in 1976, headquartered in Dunstable. With 3,900+ stores globally and 17,809 employees, it operates in the coffee retail and food service sector.
More about Costa Coffee
Acquired by Coca-Cola in 2019, Costa is one of Europe's largest coffee shop chains.
Founded 1976Head office Dunstable, United KingdomStaff ~17,809 (2022)Revenue ~£1.23BWebsite ↗
Costa Coffee discloses emissions data only through Companies House filings, not directly, and relies on intensity-based targets despite rising absolute emissions (+30% in 2022). Supply chain hotspots identified but unverified; cup recycling pledge failed dramatically. Parent company Coca-Cola's plastic pollution litigation and greenwashing allegations compound reputational risk.
Costa Coffee scores 39/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Costa Coffee joint 432nd of 934 companies scored, and 18th of 51 in Food Service / Restaurants.
What is Costa Coffee doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Energy Source and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (6/10, 5/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Water Impact (2/10, 2/10).
Where Costa Coffee lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations4/10No full Scope 1 and 2 figures worked out to the GHG Protocol.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling2/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water2/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports3/10No published sustainability data, or no one named as responsible for it.
- Its record on controversies4/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Costa Coffee's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Costa Coffee's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
25% of them were published by Costa Coffee itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
9 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Costa Coffee compare with other food service / restaurants companies?
Where Costa Coffee sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 51 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Costa Coffee sits 18th of 51.
Who scores higher in Food Service / Restaurants?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Costa Coffee.
Toby Carvery's parent company M&B has SBTi-validated net zero targets and renewable electricity across its estate, but brand-level data is absent and supply chain emissions remain unquantified.
See the breakdown →Dishoom's emissions are rising: its own operations' emissions are up 18.5% over two years, and its full footprint grew from 25,600 t in 2021 to 31,545 tCO2e in 2023, 95% of it from its supply chain, mainly ingredients.
See the breakdown →Domino's has SBTi-validated climate targets but relies on intensity-based Scope 3 reductions while absolute emissions from operations are rising.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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