Latte voted nation’s favourite coffee drink
According to the Coffee Shop report, the Latte is the most popular coffee shop drink. The first ever publication of the report, entitled the 2018 Square Coffee Report, run in partnership with the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) and Square UK, analysed the sales of independent coffee shops and cafés from across the nation.
The study also revealed that coffee sales are at their peak between 10 am and 11am, while the industry has seen growth in the popularity of oat and almond milk year on year for the past 4 years.
SCA chief research officer Peter Giuliano said: “The latte is a popular drink so I’m not surprised to see it top the list, but the flat white’s popularity is worth noting. Starting out in Australia and New Zealand, it’s become a firm favourite in the UK much faster than in the U.S. and Canada, where it’s still something of an emerging trend. What’s most remarkable here is the popularity of tea — it’s a quintessentially British choice that shows no signs of abating in popularity."
Catherine Seay, co-owner of Curators Coffee in central London, also noted the trend toward flat whites: “For us, flat whites are really popular and our most sold coffee by far.
“We’ve noticed an increase in the popularity of plant-based milks this year. In the past, drinking alternative milks was mainly driven by dietary intolerances, but the popularity of plant-based diets have seen our alternative milks such as oat and soy increase significantly.”
“We are also selling a lot more “take home” beans than we used to — people are investing in high quality beans so they can get that coffee shop quality drink at home or in the office.”
Most popular coffee shop drinks
Latte £2.50
Tea £2.02
Americano £2.18
Flat white £2.50
Cappuccino £2.53
Filter £2.53
The data covered transactions for the period June 2017 to June 2018.
