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Coffee overtakes tea as drink of choice at home

BIS Foodservice's Coffee and Beverages 2012 report series has found that despite price jumps, coffee is now the preferred at-home hot drink amongst Australians.

The total market for coffee in terms of number of units purchased has increased from 1.8 billion in 2010 to 2.1 billion in 2012, representing a jump by nearly a fifth (19.5 per cent). This is despite the value of coffee rising sharply in the last two years, and with the likelihood that the average price of a coffee purchased and consumed away from home will hit $4 a cup for the first time.

Sissel Rosengren, head of BIS Foodservice, said "Coffee is now the at-home beverage of choice for Australians, replacing tea for the first time.

"This has been driven largely by the significant fall in cost of making an espresso-based coffee at home, combined with a maturing coffee palette. In addition, coffee is now the number one hot beverage across all age and socioeconomic groups."

The away-from-home coffee market is also expected to grow in the near future, with 10 to 15 percent jumps predicted within the next two years. This is despite price hikes of seven percent over the past two years, up from 43.62 to $3.86 per cup.

"The signs are there that Australia is becoming a coffee nation. Pod machines are very likely to increase at home and at work, while by 2020 we fully expect the espresso-based coffee to overtake the instant/soluble variety," Rosengren said.

The rise of coffee coincides with the demise of tea, which has lost its crown as the at-home hot beverage of choice among Australians, with the average number of units consumed per person per week at home falling from 8.6 to 7.9.

“The demise of tea can largely be attributed to the demise in popularity of black tea,” says Rosengren. “Green tea and other types of tea have tracked reasonably well over the same period, but black tea with milk in particular has seen a sharp decline in popularity.”

Overall, the consumption of black tea with milk at home has dropped 11 percent since 2010. And the picture for tea both away-from-home and at-work is just as bleak.

"Tea actually tracks well in the home environment but falls short away from home, unlike coffee," said Rosengren.

He urged companies to push the myriad health benefits of tea in order to stem the flow of people deserting the drink. They should also find a way to market the beverage to a younger demographic that has moved towards coffee, he said.

"Tea is simply not resonating with younger individuals."

 

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