A lot of British people have their morning routines set in place every day before work and unsurprisingly having a warm cup of coffee plays a big part in this. Everybody knows that a cup of coffee can be very useful to wake you up or give you that energy you need to finish some work at the end of the day. What is changing in the industry though, is the shift in coffee culture; the trend seems to focus on the experience and enjoying premium products in relaxed and sociable boutique coffee shops.

The Coffee Franchise Industry

The coffee sector is one of the most reliably performing industries, especially considering that cheap alternatives are readily available, such as instant shop-bought coffee. Coffee shops have been around and doing well for a long time and, just before we hit the big millennium, it was expected to have already peaked but you only have to look at recent years to know that’s not true. In 2015, we saw an increase in coffee shops by roughly 3,500 from the previous year. This leap was mainly influenced by the 12% increase of branded coffee chains, who own a considerable market share. The top three, Costa, Starbucks & Café Nero, received a combined annual turnover of £3.3 billion.

Over 1.7 billion cups of coffee were purchased in 2015 which equated to a £7.9 billion consumer spend in that year. This may sound like a lot until you consider how many people consistently buy coffee, with nearly 80% of people visiting a coffee shop in a week and 20% of people visiting once a day, it suddenly makes sense. According to Ico.org, the world coffee exports amounted to 10.44 million bags of coffee in June 2017, whereas in June 2016, it was 9.88 million. These figures show us that this industry didn’t peak and experts now are even saying they don’t expect it to peak for some time yet.

Coffee Options

The coffee experience isn’t what it used to be where everybody would just get a quick cup of coffee, maybe some milk and sugar, it’s now more complicated than ever before, with no plans of stopping. The British population are more than willing to pay premium prices for all types of coffees, some of the more recent trends are; iced coffees, varying coffee bean types and flavoured syrups. Coffee franchises can now offer the quick coffee for those in a rush or offer a pleasurable sociable experience with premium coffee, all you have to do is think of the American sitcom “Friends” and the shift becomes apparent.

Coffee is so popular that many other businesses are including it in their offering which has generated around 8,000 non-specialist coffee outlets in the UK. The options you have in the coffee franchise industry provides aspiring franchisees a choice in how they like to work. High street coffee outlets like Starbucks are an obvious example of a coffee franchise, but have you considered mobile coffee shops, such as those van based or even bicycle based.

The coffee franchise industry is performing well and has performed well for a long time, this leads us to believe that it’s going to continue on with this trend for the foreseeable future. It also offers different working environments and very different franchise fees; this diversity makes some kind of coffee franchise suitable for most aspiring franchisees out there.