Abstract
In its early years, coffee was considered a luxury product reserved for the rich. Then in the 80s, this changed and coffee became a common beverage that the everyone could afford. Because of this changed image, sales plummeted and coffee companies had to work hard to restore coffee's luxury image. In order to do this they had to rethink their marketing strategies. They launched their best product – the espresso. In today's world of of globalization, cut-throat competition exists between companies coming up with varied flavors of coffee and the market is not the same anymore.
The consumption of traditional coffee has witnessed a lull for many years. At home, the French generally drink espressos made from coffee Arabica. Coffee lovers also look for other varieties such as the Moka made of coffee beans from Ethiopia or Supremo made of Columbian coffee beans. This year France recorded sales of 700,000 espresso machines, which is an increase of 9 or 10% (3.8 million in Europe). The sales figures of coffee rises about 40% every year. Espressos are only 10% of the coffee sold in supermarkets but have a turnover of 20%. These figures do not include sales in the parallel circuits.
Some important features of the coffee market are:
- In the early 90s, coffee was not only a common beverage but also a luxury product. “Carte Noire, un café nommé désir” which means ‘Carte Noire, a coffee called desire' and “L'or, de Maison du café”, which means ‘Gold, from the house of coffee' were two popular brands that sold coffee as a luxury product.
- The number of French coffee bars decreased significantly, from 200,000 in the 60s to 50,000 in the 90s.
- The sales of small electric coffee appliances rose during Christmas.
- After 7 years of testing in Switzerland, the first coffee machine was marketed in 1991 in France by Nespresso.
- Carte Noire, Maison du cafe and Nescafe noted an increase in the sales of coffee dispenser machines.
