Democratic Coffee: New Approaches to Coffee Away From Home

Specialist coffee shops is one of the fastest growing food service formats globally

Specialist coffee shops have had an impact on consumer preferences towards the coffee itself. Consumers now have more options, they are better informed, and are more confident in what they want.

Quality coffee is democratising.

Channel diversification and innovation at the bottom of the ladder is making quality coffee more accessible and accessibility is making it cheaper.

Democratisation is squeezing mid-tier specialist coffee shops.

Chained players are adopting new strategies to compete with channel diversity, developing new formats which are more accessible and more convenient.

Digital adoption is critical in being more accessible and more convenient to consumers.

Effective digital strategies should include rewards programmes, mobile ordering and in-store payment functionality in order to keep the customer engaged.