Insomnia Coffee Company

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Insomnia Coffee Company

Industry	Coffee Company
Founded	1997 (Ireland)
Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Key people	John Clohisey (Chairman), Harry O Kelly (CEO)
Revenue	€36.77m (2019)[1] €30.9 million (2018) €28.7 million (2017)[2]
Owner	Insomnia Ltd
Parent	BHJ Holdings
Website	www.insomnia.ie

Insomnia Coffee Company is an Irish independent coffee chain.^[3] The headquarters are in Dublin. The first store location opened in the back of a Galway bookstore in August 1997. The company has over 150 stores and over 400 self-service units in operation around Ireland.^[4] Insomnia stores serve both hot and cold drinks, coffee, sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks, cakes and pastries.

History[]

Formation and growth[]

Insomnia has grown from a single location in a Galway bookstore in 1997 to an estate of 150+ coffee shops ^[5] with owned stores and franchised stores, through partnerships with SPAR, Eurospar, Mace and Londis as well as other Irish retailers such as Eason, Fresh, Meadows & Byrne, Maxol, and Primark.

In 2003, the company merged with the sandwich company, Bendini & Shaw.^[6] In 2005, Insomnia acquired the Perk coffee chain.^[7]

From 2006-2017, the company was equally owned by chairman Bobby Kerr, CEO Harry O’Kelly, and John Clohisey. In 2010, O'Kelly was appointed CEO and Kerr became chairman.^[8] In December 2017, Bobby Kerr left the business and sold his shares to the other shareholders.^[9] That same month, John Clohisey became Chairman, CFO Barry Kehoe joined the Board of Directors and Dara O'Flynn joined as COO.^[10][11]

In April 2012, the Insomnia high street franchise was launched. The first franchise store was opened in 2013 in St Stephens Green Shopping Centre, Dublin. In 2015, the company announced a new partnership with Primark, an Irish-based retail chain, which trades in Ireland as Penneys. In 2015, three Insomnia concession stores were rolled out at Penneys in Waterford, Swords and Athlone, with Liffey Valley opening in 2016.

In 2016 a new franchise partnership developed between Insomnia and Maxol, which saw the first store opening in Mulhuddart Service Station in April 2016. In 2018 Insomnia's first coffee drive-thru opened in partnership with Maxol at Maxol Ballycoolin, in the heart of the Dublin Enterprise Zone.

In 2018, Insomnia launched Mission Compostable ^[12] a sustainability programme and marketing campaign which was proposed, by 2021, to divert 15 million takeaway coffee cups and 20 million single use items such as plastic straws, plastic cups and plastic cutlery from landfill.^[13]

Partnerships and expansion[]

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Insomnia has partnered with a number of retailers, including Eason, Fresh, Meadows & Byrne, Aramark, Mace, Londis, Maxol, Primark. It also has partnerships with SPAR and EUROSPAR.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Insomnia expanded to the United Kingdom, with a store opening in Market Harborough. It continued to expand in 2016, opening three more UK stores in Calver, Laceby and Bromley, which was the first of seven stores in partnership with Primark. Currently,^[when?] Insomnia have 20 stores in the UK, having most recently^[when?] opened a store in Littleover in partnership with the Central England Co-operative.^{[citation needed]}

Products[]

Coffee and beverages[]

Insomnia became the first coffee chain in Ireland to offer 100% Fairtrade Coffee in 2006.^[14] Insomnia's Signature Coffee Blend is made up of beans from Colombia, Tanzania, Peru and Sumatra. Insomnia also offer Fairtrade black tea and flavoured teas. In 2018, Voyager, a second coffee blend was introduced - the first new coffee since Insomnia's establishment in 1997.^[15]

Hot chocolate[]

Insomnia's hot chocolate is reputedly made with real Belgian chocolate, which is melted down into a chocolate sauce, whisked with steamed milk and topped with chocolate flakes, marshmallows and whipped cream.^{[citation needed]} In 2020, Insomnia launched a vegan version of their signature hot chocolate, made from roasted cocoa beans.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, Insomnia became the first high street coffee chain to introduce "Ruby Chocolate" in Ireland.^[16][17]

Sandwiches[]

In 2019, Insomnia relaunched their lunch menu to include sandwiches, sandwich wedges, bloomers, baguettes, panini, foccacia, flatbreads, thins, toasties, wraps and ciabattas. Other lunch options include salads and soups.^[18]

See also[]

• List of coffeehouse chains

References[]

Further reading[]

• O'Connell, Hugh (10 May 2015). "Insomnia to open 15 new franchises and create 100 new jobs". Business ETC. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
• Tuesday (18 January 2011). "Coffee shop displays calorie content of hot drinks and snacks in trial". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 May 2015.