Reading over some industry data last week, we were struck by how coffee is an integral part of life as we know it in the UK. It's probably that way too in many other countries around the world and "coffee culture" is growing, now slowing. Being inquisitive types, we did some digging...
1 in 5 people in the UK go to a coffee shop every day - yes, DAILY!
The main colours of UK coffee shops are Red, Green and Blue! Not sure which is your favourite of these high street brands, but they represent around 54% (market share) of the UK coffee scene... In terms of locations, Big Red 1500, Big Green 760 and Big Blue 530; places to drink coffee, read industry reports and chat! It's growing; + 7.5% (2012); impressive no matter what colour you have pinned to the mast!
What's more interesting is that in total there are estimated to be just under 16, 000 coffee shops in the UK - that includes all of the independent and small chains (great coffee!) dotted on our highways and byways.
So, 16, 000; that's a big number, right?
Well, how about I raise you to 278, 000 as a B I G number?
278, 000 is the (2012) UK vending industry estimate of the number of hot drinks vending machines dotted in our offices, hospitals and leisure centres etc; down in 2012 by around 2.5%.
Another fact that you might find interesting is that the average cup of coffee in the high street will set you back at least a rocking £2.20 and more if you add 'ccino, frappé, mocha, decaf, soya, skinny, sprinkles (you get our drift) into the mix. Growth, profit, loyalty are just some of the words you can associate with the Red, Blue, Green and other colours of the coffee world in which we co-exist.
I'm not sure how many of you reading this are supping a £2.20 cup of vended coffee. Oops, didn't make you schlurp on your crema did we?
We've talked about this before on previous blogs and not much has changed. The Big Colours of Coffee are eyeing our playground. They love the high street as much as the next, but closed sites such as Offices must be on their maps!
Big Red has already made serious moves into Gourmet Vending! Just calling it Gourmet changes the emotion that we engage when we think about buying from a machine... they can dress it up all they like, and mess with our heads and our emotions but we know, truly we do, that it's just Vending (like we do!) by any other name. Big Green is partying with a large Operator and who knows what Big Blue are up to in their Covent Garden coffee hot house.
As you're all smart boys and girls, you'll have spotted that nowhere in this article do we use the word Quality. Now, you all know that we can't really tell a turnip from a tea-towel without a coffee fix, but it's pretty certain the the vending equipment we use makes excellent, consistent coffee that deserves more love and attention from the sipping public. However, if we continue to flog it for 2 tenths of not very much because we've squeezed all value from the final brew, why are we surprised when our industry is slip, sliding away rather than racing to the top?
In the age old story, Jack watered his beanstalk and took great care; maybe we should all try to be like Jack... what say you?
So riddle us this; which would you rather be ... growing at+7.5% or declining at -2.5%?
(all our data comes from Allegra Strategies or
AVA)
Thanks for listening and
let us know how you're winning the hearts and minds of vending consumers through great coffee!
