Coffee Nation, the UK’s leading self-serve gourmet coffee company, has announced another year of record sales.

Despite difficult trading conditions, when many companies have made cut-backs or battened down the hatches, Coffee Nation has invested heavily in sales and marketing, customer service and research and development to ensure its continued expansion.

In one of the worst recessionary periods this century, quality coffee, at an affordable price, appears to be one treat that consumers are not prepared to give up. The company forecasts sales growth of 20% over the next financial year.

Highlights from Coffee Nation’s figures for the year ending 31 March 2010 include:

• Sales up 9.2% to £23.56m
• £0.5m investment in research and development
• 13.3m coffees and speciality hot drinks sold in the year

In the past 12 months, the company has made a significant investment in product innovation, developing and launching its first chip and pin concession and a new touch screen system.

These solutions have enabled Coffee Nation to move into new markets such as education and healthcare where unmanned gourmet coffee bars offer a major revenue generation opportunity at a time when budgets are under increasing pressure.

The company has also invested heavily in personnel to support its operational platform and its drive into new sales sectors.

Commenting on these results, Scott Martin, chief executive of Coffee Nation, said: "Over the last year we have made major investments in our people infrastructure, our products and our service. This strategy has paid off and we now have an even stronger platform for continued future growth. Innovative new systems and the development of our speciality product range has also helped us to attract new customers and retain our existing base as consumers look for a quality, convenient ‘on the go’ alternative to the high-street coffee bar.”