Coffee body attempts to boost sales

The International Coffee Organisation which promotes the global consumption of coffee is to explore ways of boosting sales.

The ICO is drawing up a shortlist of about eight companies to help it to produce a long-term plan to build future consumption.

A spokesman for ICO says it is talking to a number of advertising agencies, marketing and commodity consultants and market research firms about the coffee business.

“We are not necessarily going to appoint an advertising agency. We want to look at the whole area of global coffee consumption and make recommendations for a strategy to increase that consumption” he says.

The ICO will reduce the shortlist by the end of this month and will select one agency to produce a marketing strategy in May.

UK sales of instant, roast and ground coffee were worth £568m by value in 1993 compared with £561m the previous year, according to Nielsen figures.