Giant coffee chains face threats from all sides: they lose customers for cheaper options and other premium chains. Customers started to question: After all, what coffee I deserve for 5 euros?
The high feedback coffee sector may be changing forever. Marks like Costa Coffee or Starbucks They continue to master the area, but consumers’ preference is moving to more handcrafted and differentiated options.
Founded in 1971 by two Italian brothers and bought by Coca-Cola in 2018 for over 4.5 billion euros, the coast is today the largest coffee chain in the United Kingdom, with over 2,000 stores and 14,000 autoservice machines. Now it is being constantly characterized as “Outdated” and unattractiveas noted o.
Coca-Cola will be until we consider selling the business, after the global coffee results have fallen 3% in 2023, largely due to the poor coast performance in the UK. Analysts cited by the estimated that the chain can currently be worth only half the price paid for seven years.
But the problems are not limited to the coast. The whole sector seems to be “spilling”: a, due to droughts and crop failures, postpandeia inflation, high energy costs and pressure on increasing the minimum wage and contributions to social security. The economic environment has tightened family budgets, making coffee consumption in increasingly selective stores.
In this scenario, the great chains are between the sword and the wall. On the one hand, They lose customers for cheaper options. On the other, they face Competition of independent cafes and premium chains that offer more sophisticated and aligned experiences with new consumer trends.
One of the factors that most accentuated this change was the meteoric rise of the matcha. Visually appealing and ‘pumping’ for months on social networks, the high-caffeine-ground green tea drink associated with health benefits has become a cultural phenomenon.
The threat in the United Kingdom has another protagonist, the Blank Streetborn in New York in 2020 as a simple coffee cart, which already has 35 spaces in London. In the last year it alone has a 27%growth, well driven by its appeal with the younger generation on Tiktok. Stores, minimalist and colorful aesthetics, sell not only drinks, but a lifestyle experience that attracts queues of customers.
Experts believe that market energy is clearly on the side of independents and handcrafted roasting. For more and more consumers, A 5 euros coffee only pays off if this experience, something unique, Impossible to replicate at home.
