The internal Costa lounge at Taunton Deane Southbound, situated in the food court area, next to Chozen Noodle & opposite customer seating. Costa has traded at Taunton Deane since the 2000s & replaced Coffee Republic, Roadchef's previous coffee provider. Before this, Roadchef had Café Continental, which was introduced in 1989 to work alongside "Foodfayre", another former Roadchef own-brand. Roadchef chose Costa to replace Coffee Republic as they saw it as a "better fit" for their brand image. Costa being a highly recognisable high street name means customers stopping will be more familiar with the brand, making Costa more popular than own-brand coffee on the roadside. Costa comes equipped with plenty of its own customer seating here. Costa at Taunton Deane South was fully refurbished in June 2023 to include self-service ordering machines & a fresher look as it was quite dated previously. This Costa doesn't remain open 24 hours a day, so when it closes overnight, customers can use the Costa Express machines at the 24 hr WHSmith store. Costa started in London in 1971 and became increasingly popular in the 2000s. The brand was specifically designed to take advantage of the growing popularity of takeaway coffee. This is why the brand has become so common to find at motorway service areas. 2/3 main operators have Costa's at all their sites & Transport Focus have concluded that Costa is by far the most popular brand on the motorway network. This lounge may loose some trade to the drive thru kiosk at Taunton Deane South, but this lounge is still very popular here. There are a total of 3 Costas at Taunton Deane South, however, one is an outdoor takeaway kiosk which is only open during the summer period, ensuring that this Costa lounge doesn't become overcrowded. Due to Costa's popularity, especially on the roadside, prices are highly inflated here. Coffees cost anywhere between £5-7, making Costa bad value for money. McDonald's, which also provides a wide range of coffees and breakfast items, is more popular as it's much more affordable for customers & better value for money. Costa was sold to Coca Cola and by November 2021, Costa had a highly-publicised brand partnership with M&S Food. This means that M&S Food products can now be purchased at Taunton Deane South without the need for an M&S Simply Food mini-market. This is the same with every Roadchef site. Costa was quite busy during the time of my visit, as was the entirety of Taunton Deane South. Costa is the first brand customers pass whilst entering the amenity building, so this and its general popularity means it's typically quite busy. Costa is signposted from the M5 Southbound, however, it's posted as a "Drive Thru". Most customers would still expect to find this lounge inside the amenity building however. Costa is also frequently advertised around the site, making customers aware of this facility.

Photo taken on 22/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Taunton Deane, M5, Costa, Roadchef