In an exclusive interview with Convenience World, Barista Technology CEO Brett Bolwell talks about the coffee space and how his company’s market-leading and innovative technology is streamlining business operations and efficiencies, advancing the art of coffee-making to be much more sophisticated and seamless.
Australia’s coffee market has accelerated since the start of the pandemic and is showing no signs of slowing down, with consumers’ love affair with the brew heightening, as seen with the growth of takeaway coffee and home consumption.
With a deep passion for quality coffee, and a finger on the pulse of the petrol and convenience retail market, Barista Technology is gearing up for an exciting 2022 with some especially sizable projects due to be completed by the end of this year, also pointing to opportunities in the trending area of pop-up cafes.
The coffee and cafe market
Coffee consumption at home, the trend for coffee machines, and takeaway coffee sales have all increased considerably, while the cafe sector in certain parts of the country has suffered due to rolling lockdowns and restrictions, with many cafes closing or running at limited capacity.
“It was a natural occurrence that the home coffee market would grow,” Mr Bolwell said. “It will start to level off next year. Growth will be a lot slower once everything returns [to normal]. People will go back to their routine, meet at the local coffee shop and socialise. The home market is still going to be strong, but it will certainly taper off as we resume some sort of normal life in 2022.”
Quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains such as McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, Jamaica Blue, and The Coffee Club, however, have recorded strong growth, according to Mr Bolwell, who attributes this to the move into more touch-free points of accessing consumer goods, particularly coffee.
“Some of McDonald’s licensees are up well over 20 per cent and that’s been attributed to very significant growth in drive-through,” he said. “There’s a big focus towards drive-through in 2022 and this will be one of the biggest growth areas in the coffee industry next year.”
Consumer habits have changed in the interim but this is unlikely to be permanent, he adds.
“It’s going to certainly open up a very significant opportunity for people to run a drive-through business and get a much better return for their money,” Mr Bolwell said.
Read the exclusive interview with Barista Technology in the latest issue of Convenience World.
