Whitbread has reported an 8.7% hike in total sales at Costa in its first-quarter results for the 13 weeks to 1 June.

A good performance by Costa’s expanding travel and drive-thru channels saw like-for-like sales at the Costa sites owned by Whitbread – as opposed to franchised sites - rising by 1.1%. The company reported UK Costa retail sales rose 7.9% year on year.

Alison Brittain, chief executive at Whitbread, said the company is focused on executing initiatives for Costa.

“We are rolling out ‘Cold Brew’ in more than 200 of our stores and our latest summer Frostino and cooler drinks have just gone on sale this month,” Brittain added. “We also introduced our new breakfast range towards the end of the quarter, with further new food ranges launching throughout the year.”

Three hundred self-service Costa Express coffee bars were installed during the quarter, taking the total to more than 7,101, with a further 1,250 planned for this financial year.

Costa also opened its new Roastery in May, which would give the business capacity to grow over the next 20 years and provide an industry-leading centre for coffee innovation, said Brittain.