Coffee Bar Ranking: Over 20% Growth

 
Coffee bars: at the moment they are definitely one of the most interesting concept categories in many European countries. And the signs are that this development is just at the beginning.
 
To an ever-increasing extent, these public living rooms are an integral part of the modern infrastructure of cities, shopping centres and travel destinations, as well as hospitals and cruise liners. For the third time, we present a ranking of the top European players. 60 brands with a total of nearly 8,000 outlets – and over 20% unit growth in twelve months. Heading the list is Starbucks followed by Tchibo and Costa Coffee. The most new outlets were opened by McCafé. Although London can justly claim to be Europe’s coffee-bar capital, the music of growth is particularly loud in Moscow at present.
 

 
Yes, it’s the concept category with the most new upcoming names and players since the late 90s. And this applies not only to Great Britain where the coffee bar idea caught on faster among foodservice chains than anywhere else in Europe. It is true almost everywhere, even in the Eastern part of the continent. In the opinion of entrepreneurs and consumers, coffee bars are no less cool than computer companies or designer outlets. At the same time, the players include many large corporations that have the capacity to grow rapidly an thus contribute to rapid market expansion. The best example of this is, of course, McDonald’s with McCafé. Coffee bars are part of the quickservice world. They sell tenminute breaks from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For more and more people, they are a daily treat, a small indulgence. Caffè latte and related products are the key drivers in this business. What we see is a new coffee drinking culture for many millions of European consumers. Selling an ex perience, not just something needed, is part of the premium price package. The fundamental shifts are:

• From a beverage to a lifestyle seller.
• From a hot drink to a drinkable snack. The borderline between eating and drinking has become very blurred.
• From Breakfast & Co. to 24 hour use.
• From small traditional cups to large bowls and glasses – and sales to go.

Coffee bars are incredibly elastic when it comes to size and location. Solo or in a shop-in-shop format, they can find a place for themselves almost everywhere.
 
Top 60 players

• �The ranking lists 60 names with nearly 8,000 units. Exactly 21% unit growth in twelve months (2006: +18%). Topping the list are five extremely differently positioned brands from five countries (Starbucks/USA, Tchibo/Germany, Costa Coffee/UK, McCafé/Australia and Segafredo/Italy).
• World-market leader Starbucks has cleared the 1,000-units hurdle in Europe – around ten years after entering the market in Great Britain.
• For the first time, the top 10 includes a Russian player, Coffee House. Altogether, there are three Russian and two Polish brands in the top 60.
• Unit growth: the leader in absolute terms is McCafé with over 250 new points of sale, 184 of them in Germany alone. McCafé is followed by Starbucks (+217) and Costa Coffee (+201 units). In relative terms, the British Coffee Republic chain leads with growth of 134%. It is followed by the Russian brand Shokoladnica with 95% and Austria’s Coffeeshop Company with 70%.
• The most widely distributed are Segafredo (30 European Coffeeright countries), Caffè Ritazza (18), and Illy Cafè (15).

 

 
The 60 brands originate from 19 countries, which means a very broad spectrum of birthplaces for a top ranking. 13 of the 60 names come from Spain, nine from the UK – and three from Australia, something that is very worthy of note.
 

 
| 15 April 2008 |