UK one of Europe’s fastest-growing coffee markets, says report

By Hannah Thompson

- Last updated on GMT

Photo: The New Black
Photo: The New Black

Related tags United kingdom Europe Costa coffee

The UK is among the countries with the fastest-growing coffee market, which is still thriving and innovating to stay ahead, according to new research.

The latest European-wide report, ProjectCafe 2017 Europe, from analyst group Allegra World Coffee Portal, found that the UK, Greece and Turkey saw the biggest growth in the coffee market over the last 12 months.

The UK was also highlighted as the model for the branded coffee shop industry, as “the most developed market in Europe”, according to the report.

Despite a slight slowdown from nine per cent growth a year earlier, overall the European coffee market – over 25 countries ‒ had grown just over six per cent over the past 12 months, adding 1,268 outlets in 2016.

The top chains saw a 32 per cent share of the total European market, having continued to invest. Costa Coffee (2,512 outlets across 12 European countries), McCafe (2,199 outlets in 17 countries) and Starbucks (2,154 in 24 countries) were the top brands.

Starbucks was the fastest-growing chain in 2016, opening 194 European stores in the past 12 months.

Artisan coffee’s fifth wave

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Photo: The New Black

However, artisan coffee – which Allegra called ‘The 5th​ Wave’ – was still very influential, especially in countries where it is already well-established, such as the Netherlands, the Nordics, and Russia.

This was made up of a combination of previous waves of coffee, including ‘Tradition’, ‘Branded Chains’, ‘Artisan’, and ‘The Science of Coffee’.

Allegra concluded that brands that don’t adapt to these influences – including investing highly in good staff ‒ would risk losing business, especially as the trend of socialising away from the home was seen as still important and growing.

Jeffrey Young, Allegra Group chief executive, said: “We are entering an exciting, yet challenging era for the European coffee industry within a global context.  One that will ultimately see the leading brands compete on excellence in an environment where winning is everything.

“Success will be defined by brands that develop and retain highly motivated and passionate staff.  The industry will put more emphasis on hyper-professionalism and invest in people development programmes to support long term career paths for ‘hospitality professionals.”

The report echoes the feature findings from BigHospitality last month​, which found that the coffee market in the UK was responding to the increasingly competitive market with ever more innovative and creative concepts.

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