Marks & Spencer is to provide sandwiches and hot food to more than 2,500 Costa Coffee outlets as the retailer seeks new ways to reach commuters now working from home. M&S said it would be providing more than 30 different items to Costa including children’s food, hot meal boxes and salads under the collaboration with the UK’s biggest coffee shop chain. The retailer said the partnership with the coffee shop, which was bought by Coca-Cola in 2018, would help it reach neighbourhood locations, drive-throughs, high streets and retail parks. The deal is M&S’s latest effort to widen the distribution of its food after it bought a share in Ocado’s retail arm and replaced Waitrose as the online grocery specialist’s main partner. The deal with Ocado resulted in M&S being able to begin selling groceries online for home delivery for the first time just over a year ago. Analysts said the tie-up could be good for both parties, with M&S benefiting from extra sales and the higher volumes lifting its profit margins. Costa has the chance to extend the variety food it offers, particularly on healthy eating and new trends such as plant-based foods in which M&S has already developed full ranges. M&S has been revamping its stores and products to appeal more to families, helping the group return to a pre-tax profit in the six months to October after a loss of almost £88m in the same period last year.
