Cooks Coffee Irish sales rise 11.6% across 29-store network

Cooks Coffee Company has reported an 11.6% increase in Irish systemwide store sales for the first half of its 2027 financial year, alongside like-for-like growth of 3.4%. Its 29-store Irish network forms part of a wider business reporting double-digit sales growth as it prepares to enter two further markets.

Ireland records growth on both measures

The figures, reported by L’Express Franchise on 10 November 2026 following the company’s trading update, give Ireland’s franchise community two distinct measures of the coffee business’s performance.

Irish systemwide store sales increased by 11.6% over the half-year. Like-for-like sales, which provide a comparison of performance within the comparable store base rather than the whole changing network, rose by 3.4%.

Both measures were positive, but they answer different questions. The systemwide figure describes sales growth across the network, while the like-for-like figure offers a narrower view of trading at comparable locations. Neither should be treated as a measure of an individual operator’s profit.

The distinction is particularly useful when assessing a growing franchise network. A larger sales total can reflect the contribution of additional outlets as well as changes in trading at established stores. Reading the two figures together provides a more balanced picture than relying on the headline percentage alone.

Irish comparable sales outpace the UK

Across the group, first-half systemwide store sales rose by 14.3%. Growth in the second quarter alone was 14.6%.

The UK recorded a higher first-half systemwide increase than Ireland, at 15.5%, but its like-for-like growth was lower, at 1.3%. Ireland therefore delivered the stronger comparable-store growth of the two markets, despite recording the smaller increase in total network sales.

That contrast is the most notable Irish detail in the update. It shows why a ranking based only on headline growth would miss part of the trading picture: the UK led on systemwide sales growth, while Ireland led on the like-for-like measure.

The rolling 12-month figures were closer together. Group systemwide sales increased by 16.5% over that period, with the UK up 16.6% and Ireland up 16.3%.

These rolling figures cover a different period from the first-half results. They provide a broader trading reference, rather than a directly interchangeable comparison with the half-year percentages.

Ireland accounts for 29 of 128 stores

Cooks Coffee’s reported network totals 128 stores, comprising 89 in the UK, 29 in Ireland and 10 elsewhere.

The Irish count gives a clear indication of the market’s place within the group: it is smaller than the UK operation but represents a substantial part of the reported estate. The ten outlets outside the UK and Ireland are already included in the 128-store total.

For readers assessing the announcement, the store count and sales growth figures should remain separate. The update reports a current network size alongside trading performance over specified periods; those numbers alone do not establish how many Irish stores opened during the half-year.

Likewise, an increase in systemwide sales is not the same as an increase in company revenue or franchisee earnings. The figures describe customer sales across the store network, not the costs or returns associated with operating a particular outlet.

Further international openings expected

Beyond its established UK and Irish operations, Cooks Coffee said its first stores in India and the UAE were under construction and expected to open before the end of the calendar year.

The company’s announcement list records master franchise agreement notices for India in May 2025 and the UAE in January 2026. The planned openings would therefore follow those earlier agreements. They remain expected openings rather than confirmed trading locations.

The board also stated that it remained confident about the rest of the 2027 financial year. For Irish readers, however, the clearest immediate evidence is the combination of positive systemwide and like-for-like sales growth within the 29-store network.

Practical takeaway: Use the Irish results as a network-level trading indicator. Anyone assessing a coffee franchise should also examine outlet-level costs, earnings and comparable-store performance before drawing conclusions about potential returns.