Costa Coffee has launched a co-branded ready-to-drink iced coffee in partnership with British biscuit brand McVitie’s, introducing the Jaffa Cake Frappé to Costa shops across the United Kingdom on 30 April 2026 — a move that comes as the chain works to recover from a significant slump in its chilled retail coffee business.
The backdrop to the launch is a period of documented difficulty for Costa’s ready-to-drink (RTD) range. In the year to September 2025, according to The Grocer, the brand lost £2.3 million on volumes that fell 15.7%, citing NielsenIQ retail data. Costa relaunched its RTD range last summer after sales had slid by a quarter in 2024. A subsequent brand refresh is reported to have delivered a 23% uplift in 12-week penetration compared with the prior year, also per The Grocer.
The new product is a 250 ml frappé described as blending Costa coffee with zesty orange and rich chocolate notes — a flavour profile drawn from McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes, a chocolate-covered sponge biscuit with an orange jelly centre that has been a staple of the British snack market for decades. The drink is positioned as a limited-edition, seasonal product and will be available until the end of September, according to SLR Magazine.
From mid-May, the product is set to move beyond Costa’s own café estate into selected national retailers, including the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and the health and beauty retailer Boots, with a further retail roll-out planned later in the summer, according to Grocery Trader. An integrated out-of-home, social media and in-store marketing campaign is scheduled to begin on 4 May, with SLR Magazine reporting projections of 89 million impressions and a potential reach of up to 50% of UK adults.
Maddy McKenzie, Senior Brand Manager for Costa Coffee RTD, said: “We’re always looking for new ways to surprise and delight our customers with exciting flavours… This Frappé is a fun, delicious twist that we can’t wait for people to enjoy wherever they are.” Russell Smith, Marketing Manager for McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes, said the collaboration offered “a fresh twist on a classic,” adding: “Jaffa Cakes are famous for that unmistakable mix of chocolate and zesty orange… Partnering with Costa Coffee has been the perfect way to put a fresh twist on a classic and offer something new for fans to enjoy on the go.”
The launch sits within what SLR Magazine described as growing consumer interest in chocolate and orange flavour combinations, alongside continued growth in demand for ready-to-drink iced coffee in the UK, a trend also noted by The Grocer. The limited-edition product strategy is framed around targeting everyday treat occasions, according to GB News.
Costa Coffee’s RTD range recorded a 23% uplift in 12-week penetration following last year’s brand refresh, The Grocer reported.
