This is an interesting question particular when you consider the growth of shops like Costa, with Whitbread considering they could have 2,200 branches of Costa by 2018. What is interesting though is that research would suggest that whilst the coffee shop market has grown, coffee consumption hasn’t. This would suggest that we are simply in love with going out for a coffee rather than drinking it at home or in the workplace.
Whitbread
Andy Harrison, chief executive of Whitbread has also suggested that coffee shops have replaced the traditional place of the British pub. The coffee shop has become a meeting point for families and particularly for women who may not have been as comfortable meeting in their local pub. By contrast the growth in coffee shops can be seen alongside the decline in pubs.
Campaign For Real Ale
The Campaign for Real Ale says that British pubs are closing at a rate of 31 per week. Funnily enough many of them are now open all day serving food and coffee!
So is the coffee shop market getting saturated? Well according to Allegra Strategies which provides research on the coffee market it would seem there is still some way to go. This is based on the fact that there are still many towns throughout the UK that have yet to see a quality coffee shop on their high street.