Coffee culture heats up

The Italian coffee company Lavazza will open dozens of Lavazza Espression coffee shops around London in the coming years, part of its intense focus on the UK market.

Italian-style coffee has been trendy in the UK for some time, with Whitbread's Costa operating 1,300 shops, Starbucks operating 760 shops and Caffe Nero operating 400 shops. Add it all up, and one expert says these three chains hold a combined 52% of the UK coffee-shop market. These chains revived the UK coffee culture and helped educate consumers about great tasting espresso, capuccino and other hot (and cold) coffees that have become favourites.

Even so, if the market share numbers are correct, and coffee consumption continues to increase as strongly as in previous years, there's opportunity for innovation by independent shops and small chains that emphasise high quality.

The Independent recently listed the 50 best UK coffee shops, including indies like Allpress Espresso, Caravan and 6/8 Kafe, highlighting friendly service, superior coffee, special events and comfortable cafe ambiance. After all the years of enjoying chain coffee, many consumers are seeking out different places and tastes, partly for the novelty and partly to be among the first to discover something new and different.

One fast-growing new entrant is Harris & Hoole (above), which has 10 coffee shops and multimillion-pound backing from Tesco. Although the Tesco investment has sparked some controversy, the founders of Harris & Hoole explain that they had difficulty obtaining funding and Tesco's money doesn't represent a controlling interest. Watch for more H&H shops popping up all over London and beyond--and for independents that make great coffee or offer great ambiance.