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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | March 2005 
Rise of Coffee Shops Hasn't Changed Consumption
 Reuters
| Coffee shops are one of the few expanding businesses in the restaurant industry. (Photo: Anthony Bolante/Reuter)
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Coffee shops are one of the few expanding businesses in the restaurant industry, spilling all over the United States and cutting into java consumption at home, according to market research firm NPD Group.
The number of coffee shops in the United States, as of September, was up 7 percent from the previous year despite stagnant growth in the restaurant industry as a whole, according to NPD data released at the Reuters Food Summit.
The only restaurant industry segment growing more quickly than coffee shops is the small, casual-dining pizza business, NPD said.
The United States has about 17,000 coffee shops, up more than 40 percent since 1999, according to NPD.
Rather than increasing overall coffee consumption, however, the rapid proliferation of coffee shop chains like Starbucks Corp. has put a dent in at-home brewing and sales of java at convenience stores and diners.
"What companies like Starbucks have done is made it easier to have coffee," NPD Vice President Harry Balzer said in an interview. "It has not caused us to drink more coffee, it's just caused us to get coffee from different places."
Coffee shops will likely turn to drive-thrus to sustain such rapid levels of growth, Balzer added, citing data showing that 30 percent of coffee is consumed in the car though not necessarily purchased at a drive-thru window.
"That is the growing part of the coffee breakfast business," Balzer said.
No. 1 coffee shop chain Starbucks has said drive-thrus are a key component of its long-term growth strategy.
Anchorage, Alaska, leads the nation in the number of coffee shops per person at 2.8, followed closely by Seattle, where Starbucks is based, at 2.5 coffee shops per capita, NPD said.
Los Angeles leads the nation in the total number with 801, followed by Seattle with 628. |
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