Coffee chains take over the world

Coffee shops are the fastest growing hospitality branch worldwide, according to Euromonitor International’s numbers. The competition increases, pushing forward the pace of innovation.

Fragmented market

With a 9.1 % turnover growth between 2014 and 2015, coffee bars outpaced the hospitality industry’s overall turnover growth (+ 5.7 %) and also beat the fastfood branch (+ 5.8 %). Western European coffee bars even experienced a record 10.8 % turnover growth.

The playing field has become more diverse, according to Euromonitor, as the major coffee chains continuously expand their reach. So far, only two major chains are active in more than one region: Starbucks and McCafe (McDonalds), but British Costa Coffee has now expanded into Eastern Europe and Asia, Japanese Doutor Coffee into South Korea and Taiwain, and South Korean Caffe Bene targets China and the United States.

Every market does have its own local competitors, smaller chains and independent coffee bars, all trying to differentiate themselves. Some have particular themes, other add alcohol to the menu or even breakfast and lunch. An increasing number of companies sees the rapid increasing coffee bar demand and want to get their share, according to Euromonitor, which in turn leads to a very diverse, fragmented and competitive market.

These are the world’s biggest coffee bar chains

(Source: Euromonitor)