Chain Coffee Shops Opening More Locations to Meet Consumer Demand

CHICAGO — A ready-made cup of coffee is not far from reach for the majority of American consumers.

Along with coffee served at restaurants and other foodservice outlets, there are 33,129 gourmet coffee shops in the United States. This is a 2-percent increase in units from last year, according to the Spring 2017 ReCount restaurant census conducted by The NPD Group.

During the census period, chain coffee shop units increased by 5.9 percent to 18,445 units. In contrast, independent coffee shop units declined by 2.2 percent to 14,684 units. Total coffee shops increased by 2,990 units over the past five years.

"Coffee chains are expanding units to meet consumer demand because they have the resources to do so," said Greg Starzynski, director — product management, NPD Foodservice. "Greater consumer access to chain coffee shops makes it more difficult for independent coffee shops to compete, which is why we're seeing a drop in independent units."

When looking at the number of coffee shops per capita, or the number of coffee shops for every million people, Juneau, Alaska, ranks highest in density among metro areas with 22 coffee shops serving a population of 32,519 people. Anchorage, Alaska, comes in second with 170 coffee shops for a population of 431,231. These cities are followed by Seattle, Bend and Portland, Ore.

Consumer demand for foodservice coffee appears to be in line with their access, NPD said. In U.S. restaurants and foodservice outlets, 8.3 billion servings of coffee were ordered in the year ending August 2017, a 2.3-percent increase from the same time period one year prior.

Regular or traditional coffee remains the most popular type, with 4.4 billion servings order during this time period. However, specialty coffee is close behind, with 4 billion servings ordered.