In 2003, the café latte entered the UK’s retail price index for the first time. Made with a strong espresso shot and a generous slosh of steamed milk the latte had become such a staple that the Office of National Statistics decided it should be included in the “basket of goods” used to measure average household spending.

Today, the UK still boasts more branded coffee bars than anywhere else in Europe, but the company that brought lattes to the masses is grappling with a market that looks very different from those early days of frothy expansion.