Premium speciality coffee brand Bocca Felice will open a drive thru coffee shop entirely operated by AI at Hadden Hill Retail Park in Didcot.
The retail park was acquired by Martin’s Properties in 2020 and comprises three units, Halfords, Pets and Home and B&M Retail.
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A new, ‘bespoke’ drive thru unit is expected to be delivered in the next three or four months and Bocca Felice Limited has agreed a long-term lease for its first UK site on the premises.
Bocca Felice will operate the AI-powered coffee shop (Image: MC)
The AI-powered drive thru concept was designed by Sodaclick, using ‘conversational AI technology’ to ‘add a human touch to the customer experience of ordering’.
The coffee brand has ambitious plans to open 100 AI-powered sites in the next two years.
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Brook Stotesbury, head of commercial asset management and investment at site owner Martin’s Properties, said: “We are very excited to be bringing this new concept to Hadden Hill, the first of its kind in the UK.
Hadden Hill Retail Park in Didcot (Image: Google)
“Our investment into the site will create a new, highly sought after amenity for the area while increasing footfall and dwell time to the retail park, also benefitting the existing occupiers, and we look forward to completing the works to bring this to fruition.”
Located next to the Tesco Superstore in Didcot, planning permission for the drive thru at the retail park was secured in January 2025 and Faircloth Construction appointed as contractor.
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Richard Bourne, chief executive at Martin’s Properties, said: “As part of our ongoing active asset management, investment and expansion across our regional portfolio, we are delighted to announce this new lease agreement with Bocca Felice and to get started on delivering this unique concept led by our in-house development team.
“Our team is constantly finding ways to add value to our existing assets.
“The drive thru market has gone from strength to strength in recent years in terms of both demand and innovation with many new concepts and this is one of the most pioneering brands around, so we are proud to play a key role in Bocca’s launch into the UK.
“As a future-focussed investor, developer and asset manager, we are always looking at solutions that deliver the real estate of tomorrow and thus open up new demand demographics for our tenants and operators.”
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Bocca Felice, which means ‘happy mouth’ in Italian, has teased its expansion in the UK since it registered as a company here in 2019, with a statement describing it as a ‘drive thru and sit in coffee chain’.
Its website adds: “Something new is coming.
“Like the beverages we create and the service we craft, we believe in giving you the best.
“We’ve begun work on perfecting becoming the new standard in coffee retailing.”
An opening date has yet to be announced.