Retailers see drop in instant coffee as consumers favour the filtered variety

Recent sales figures provided by market research company Mintel, have shown that over the last few years there has been a rise in the market share for filtered coffee and that, for the first time ever, the sales of filtered coffee have exceeded those of the instant variety.

The figures produced by Mintel show that filtered coffee sales have increased by a significant 49% during the last five years, whilst the sale of instant coffee has dropped by 36% over the same period.

Sales of filtered coffee exceeded £149 million in the UK compared to £140 million generated from instant sales.

Ben Perkins, of Mintel, commented: “Whilst once British consumers were happy to settle with a bog standard cup of instant, today the traditional cup of coffee has become increasingly sophisticated as roast, ground, instant premium and super-premium are being sought after more frequently by core users than in previous years . . .the issue with the younger end of the market is that these consumers don’t drink instant coffee”.

It has been argued that a rise in coffee shop culture is the main driver behind consumers taking a greater pride in their home coffee-making.

This is a significant trend, particularly taking into account the recent economic climate and the fact that instant coffee is, more often than not, the cheaper option.

It just goes to show that as far as coffee is concerned, variety and quality are factors for which consumers are willing to pay that little bit extra.