A survey of 1000 Australian coffee drinkers has revealed that consumers value quality and taste but aren’t necessarily willing to pay extra for a premium brew.
Australian software company Kounta conducted the survey of consumers to coincide with International Coffee Day, on 1 October.
Seventy-eight per cent of respondents believe quality and taste is the most important factor of coffee and is the main reason to be deterred from returning to a café. Price at six per cent and customer service at four per cent were ranked a distant second and third.
“That means cafe owners have got to use good coffee to get customers through the door, and then deliver a high-quality customer experience to keep them coming back,” says Nick Cloete, CEO of Kounta.
Almost 80 per cent believe coffee should be sold at different price points based on quality and origin, but only 37 per cent are willing to pay more than $5 for specialty coffee.
The study showed 57 per cent perceive a price increase of their coffee over the last five years despite research showing that prices have remained largely stagnant.
“Good coffee, and margin squeeze is a big issue for cafes at the moment that may only make between 20 cents and 40 cents on a cup,” says Nick.
Sixty-one per cent of consumers either use a sustainable cup or try to and 62 per cent would return to a café if they were given a discount for using one.