Insomnia Coffee Company


Insomnia Coffee Company is an Irish independent coffee chain. The headquarters are in Dublin. The first store location opened in the back of a Galway bookstore in August 1997. The company has over 150 stores and over 400 self-service units in operation around Ireland.
Insomnia stores serve both hot and cold drinks, coffee, sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks, cakes and pastries.

History

Insomnia grew from a single location in a Galway bookstore in 1997 to an estate of 150+ coffee shops across high street and through partnerships with SPAR, EUROSPAR, MACE, Londis, Maxol, as well as other retailers, such as Eason & Co, Fresh, Meadows & Byrne, Primark and Debenhams.
In 2002, the company merged with the sandwich company, Bendini & Shaw. In 2004, Insomnia acquired the Perk coffee chain. Insomnia opened it first cafe with BWG in 2006.
From 2006-2017, the company was equally owned by chairman Bobby Kerr, CEO Harry O’Kelly, and John Clohisey. In 2010, O'Kelly was appointed CEO and Kerr became chairman. In December 2017, Bobby Kerr left the business and sold his shares to the other shareholders. That same month, John Clohisey became Chairman, CFO Barry Kehoe joined the Board of Directors and Dara O'Flynn joined as COO.
In April 2012, the Insomnia high street franchise was launched. The first franchise store was opened in 2013 in St Stephens Green Shopping Centre, Dublin.
In 2015, the company announced a new partnership with Debenhams to open locations in Debenhams stores. Also in 2015, Insomnia confirmed a partnership with Primark, an Irish-based retail chain, which trades in Ireland as Penneys. In 2015, three Insomnia concession stores were rolled out at Penneys in Waterford, Swords and Athlone.
In 2015, the company opened its 100th store and its first store in the UK, through its partnership with Debenhams
In 2016 a new franchise partnership developed between Insomnia and Maxol, which saw the first store opening in Mulhuddart Service Station in April 2016. In 2018 Insomnia's first coffee drive-thru opened in partnership with Maxol at Maxol Ballycoolin, in the heart of the Dublin Enterprise Zone.
In 2018, Insomnia launched Mission Compostable an integrated instore sustainability programme and marketing campaign which will, by 2021, divert 15 million takeaway coffee cups and 20 million single use items such as plastic straws, plastic cups and plastic cutlery from landfill. Alongside this Insomnia became the first coffee chain to launch a compostable and biodegradable takeaway cup.

Partnerships

Insomnia has partnered with a number of retailers, including Eason, Fresh, Meadows & Byrne, An Post, Heaton's, Compass Catering, Aramark Londis, Maxol, Primark and Debenhams. It also has long standing partnerships with SPAR and EUROSPAR.

Expansion

In 2015, Insomnia expanded to the United Kingdom, with three stores opening in Rugby, Bradford and Market Harborough. It continued to expanded in 2016, opening three more UK stores in Calver, Laceby, and Bristol. Currently, Insomnia have 25 stores in the UK, having most recently opened stores in Redditch and Hereford in partnership with Debenhams.

Restaurants

Menu

In 2019, Insomnia relaunched their lunch menu which included a limited edition range from guest chef, Chef Adrian Martin. The new menu includes sandwiches, sandwich wedges, bloomers, baguettes, panini, foccacia, flatbreads, thins, toasties, wraps and ciabattas. Other lunch options include salads and soups.