For many, cafés and coffee houses evoke images of hip ‘trendy’ bars filled with the young catching up with friends or grabbing a coffee on the go . The quintessential lifestyle depicted in ‘Central Perk’ by the TV Show ‘Friends’ comes to mind…. But this does not give a true insight into the ‘away from home’ coffee market!
On a recent study into the UK coffee market by Kantar, they reported that the over 55 age group were the largest spending group on ‘away from home’ coffee. Although in the pandemic year of 2020 they spent 10% less than all other groups, in 2019, over 55s spent 19% more than all other age groups combined, underlining just how important a consumer group this is.
Over 55s over perform in terms of penetration too; 60.6% of the total population bought coffee this year, but 70.9% of over 55s did so. Over 55s also buy coffee more frequently than any other group – 51.8 times per year compared to an average of 45.4 times per year.
Nonetheless, it has been this older segment that has seen the biggest drop in coffee trips during the pandemic: the average 55+ year old made 730 million, or 54% fewer coffee trips this year than last year. In contrast, under 25s made 51 million fewer trips this year, a reduction of 30% fewer.
So what does this mean?
- Café owners need to keep their visitor profile in mind when selecting the roast profile of the coffee bean. Speak to us if you want to find out about what our experience is on this.
- Does your menu create a roadblock reducing spend and visits from a particular customer segment?
- The over 55 customer segment is highly motivated by sustainability, wastage and environment issues; are you communicating your efforts clearly and in a compelling manner?
We launched Woodland Coffee in September 2020. We have been completely taken aback by its success since launch despite being in lockdown for most of the period. The success has been a growth in new customers but also in terms of volume growth of existing coffee locations. This is down to it being a really attractive coffee that appeals to a wide audience and has rock solid sustainability credentials. If you would like to find out how Woodland Coffee can elevate your coffee offering, drop us a line or call us on 01 4666000.
