William McGrath, Nordic Market Executive, Stockholm Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
In an article published in 2017, The Telegraph named Sweden as the 6th largest coffee consuming nation in world, with a total consumption of 8.2kg per capita. It is therefore no surprise that Sweden’s coffee culture is well and truly ingrained in the Swedish society. Sweden has a long-established “Fika” culture promoting relaxed social interaction with friends and family over a coffee and cake. A Fika can occur at any time throughout the day (but usually around 11am) and involves meeting up with friends or work colleagues for a coffee accompanied by a cinnamon/cardamom bun. The tradition has been running since the early 19th century and has shown no signs in slowing down. Local bakeries have even begun to turn their shop fronts into miniatures cafes and are offering the full-service Fika experience to their customers.
Sweden has one of the largest concentration of branded cafes & coffee-shop in the Nordic region (Allegra; 2018). As of the end of 2018 there are just over 1700 coffee outlets in Sweden. Espresso House is the market leader in the Swedish market with over 42% of the market share, followed by Wayne’s Coffee with a market share of 19%. Surprisingly, Starbucks don’t have a big representation in Sweden with only 15 stores across the entire country (Allegra; 2018). Artisanal coffee roasters are continuing to grow market share albeit from a low starting point.
Swedes are continually looking new modern concepts that make’s coffee more enjoyable (Euromonitor; 2019). Joe & The Juice is a new concept Juice/coffee-house that combines a modern club/cafe scene with on-the-go coffee and juice bar sales. The concept has been well received in Scandinavia and also has been rolled out in different part of Europe and the US.
Opportunities exist for Irish companies to capitalise on the increasing popularity of coffee shops and cafés in providing snacks and confectionary to accompany the Nordic consumers’ favourite cup of coffee.
For more information please contact William.McGrath@BordBia.IE and for media inquiries please contact press@bordbia.ie.
References
Allegra World Coffee Portal (2017); Project Café Europe 2018.
Euromonitor International (2019); Cafes/Bars in Sweden
Forbes media (2017); Joe & The Juice Might Well Be The Next Starbucks - https://www.forbes.com/sites/phillempert/2017/01/31/joe-the-juice-might-well-be-the-next-starbucks/#1a183102a79a
