La Cimbali reflect on the great coffee revolution of recent years

La Cimbali reflect on the great coffee revolution of recent years

2014 is a very different ‘coffee’ world than it was a few years ago.   Coffee shops have now taken over our high streets, supported by a never-ending supply of connoisseur addicts making the British coffee business boom!

According to Allegra Strategies market research company who specialise in the food and beverage sector, Britain's 16,500 coffee shops had a turnover of £6.2 billion in 2013, a rise of 6.4% on the previous year. There were also 5.7% more coffee shops at the end of the year than at the start.  Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Caffè Nero together saw sales rise 9.3%.  One in five of us now visit a coffee shop every day compared to one in nine in 2009.

At the top of the market are the independents, the "third wave" artisanal coffee shops, apparently soon to be superseded by an emerging "fourth wave", making what the Allegra report describes as "greater use of scientific principles to perfect the entire coffee-making process from bean to cup”.

So just how did Britain become a nation of coffee drinkers?  The first independent roaster opened way back in 1978, and was trading on its own for a very long time.  It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that better coffee became widely available. The first Starbucks opened on the Kings Road, London in 1998, and this coffee shop chain has had a huge impact on coffee drinking in the UK ever since.

In 2005, the flat white coffee arrived in Soho, to rival the Cappuccino, courtesy of the Australians and New Zealanders and the vibrant southern European immigrant.  Nowadays, coffee has become so fashionable, and helped along by great ‘all singing all dancing’ coffee machines, well trained skilled baristas, perfect roasting and coffee drinkers that expect just that little bit more from their drink, as well as being served with a big smile!

Around 60% of the world’s coffee is Arabica with Brazil still maintaining its status as the largest producer, and Vietnam the largest producer of Robusta. There are a many different varietals within the Genus Coffea, which can change the flavour of the drink, but that’s not the only thing that defines coffee.  Origin, specific plots on farms subject to different climatic soils and conditions, also make the difference.  The complex flavour of coffee can make it taste a whole heap of different ways to each person who tastes it – sweet, bright, fruity, caramel, needing milk, leaving it black.  But the most important thing is that, over the last few years the basic expectation of the minimum quality of coffee is changing, and coffee shops, cafes and restaurants want people to drink better coffee, and coffee lovers want to feel coffee is worth spending a little bit more on.

For more information, look at www.cimbaliuk.com