Applegreen launches premium coffee brand braeburn across Ireland

Roadside retailer Applegreen has launched its newest creation, braeburn coffee, designed to meet all coffee customers’ needs, featuring non-dairy and a range of ice coffee drinks at the touch of a button.

The range is now available in 26 Applegreen locations including all major motorway service stations and will be available in 75 outlets by the end of 2022.

Braeburn coffee embodies Applegreen’s entrepreneurial ethos and guarantees to make stopping off for a coffee while on the road a truly first-class experience for customers, the company says.

“Our customers’ seek quality, choice and innovation which led to the development of this exceptional braeburn coffee brand. We developed a premium coffee offer that would elevate that on-the-go coffee experience and would be accessible to all our customers – we’re truly proud to see our newest offering come to life,” said Kate O’Shaughnessy, Head of Marketing at Applegreen.

Now in their 30th year of delivering roadside retail excellence, Applegreen set out to capture the hearts of coffee lovers nationwide, working with industry-leading partners to bring to life a concept that is the first of its kind in Europe.

Critical to the success of this project was expanding the expertise within the business – hence Applegreen’s Head of Coffee, Maria Cassidy, one of Ireland’s leading authorities on coffee with more than 20 years’ experience, joined the business in March 2021.

“We’re really excited to launch our new braeburn coffee across the country,” Maria said.

“Today is the culmination of extensive research and testing, and I am sure our thousands of coffee-loving customers are going to really enjoy picking up a fresh cup of braeburn coffee as part of their daily routine.”

Recent research conducted by Applegreen found that over half of Ireland’s population are buying coffee on-the-go at least once per month, with over a third buying at least one coffee per week whilst on the move.

The team also identified an opportunity for iced coffee and found a way to deliver a barista style ice coffee that doesn’t compromise on quality and adds an elevated self-serve experience with textured cold milk.

“To satisfy that demand, we are proud to be the first forecourt and convenience retailer in Ireland to offer state-of-the-art espresso machines allowing us to deliver whipped cold milk that has a silky milkshake texture that marries perfectly with our espresso,” Maria said.

“We’re seeing a surge of demand for iced coffee around the country. As we are adopting newer coffee consumers, for example Gen Z, we must adapt our offering and cater for them with a range of iced lattes and mochas served over ice.

“Testament to this example of how popular our iced coffee is becoming, a user-generated video showcasing our iced coffees recently went viral on TikTok prior to us having officially launched our braeburn coffee brand.”

With notes of sweet citrus fruits, creamy chocolate and rich butterscotch, braeburn coffee is designed to meet the needs of the changing consumer landscape of discerning coffee drinkers.

“The demand for high quality coffee on the go continues to rise and the Irish consumer is quickly becoming amongst the most discerning in Europe, so meeting that expectation for us is high on our agenda,” said Ms Cassidy.

Having set out to deliver the best coffee experience on the road, braeburn coffee at Applegreen brings to life a unique customer-focused coffee experience that delivers quality and consistency throughout their nationwide locations.