A new wave of independent coffee businesses seeking to “innovate and challenge existing standards” is radically transforming the UK’s coffee shop market, according to a new report published by Allegra World Coffee Portal.
Entitled The Future of Coffee, the report found that artisan retailers are bringing high quality speciality coffee to a larger and more discerning audience than ever before. The study also revealed that speciality coffee accounts for an estimated 15% of the total volume of the out-of-home coffee market and forecasted 13% year-on-year growth. The speciality segment outperforms the total market, which itself is projected to grow at 10%, far outperforming many other sectors of the British economy.
Allegra predicted that speciality coffee chains such as Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, Taylor St Baristas and Notes will grow, focussing on vertical integration; while high street chains such as Starbucks, Costa and Caffè Nero will adopt speciality credentials to further increase competitive pressure in the sector.
Consumers will drink more speciality coffee at home, continuing to consume a variety of different types of coffee for various occasions, but will trade up for better quality, Allegra continued. The UK’s speciality green coffee market could reach £80.4m by 2020, it added, while the market for speciality roasted coffee could be worth more than £168m by the same time.
Allegra managing director Jeffrey Young said: “The last three to five years have seen a significant transformation of the UK coffee market with the explosion of speciality coffee venues nationwide and a particular focus on London and the South East. We have witnessed a growing presence of quality artisan roasters producing volumes of high grade speciality coffee.”
James Dickson, executive director of Workshop Coffee Co, added: “The Future of Coffee is a ground breaking report and the first ever detailed study of the UK speciality coffee market. The research clearly shows that this is a market with huge growth potential. There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in the speciality coffee sector and Workshop Coffee is delighted to have supported Allegra in producing this research.”
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