Coronavirus and the coffee business

Before coronavirus hit, South Africa had a thriving coffee shop culture. But by 26th March 2020 coffee shops were closed and remained so until the end of April, but with strict protocols in place. Many coffee shops are estimated to have closed down completely at some point during the level 3 lockdown, as it was not viable, or possible, to continue on a purely takeaway basis.

By September 2020, many have reopened, but sadly some may never do so. Time and money spent in coffee shops remains significantly reduced, with the majority of clients preferring to spend on takeaway hot drinks.

Coffee shops had become important places in many people’s lives, for some as a place to get a caffeine fix on the way to work, for others as a place to gather and meet friends, or as a place to work. If the pandemic forced some coffee shops to close, others had to shift their business focus to takeaways and online sales.

We coffee consumers, now suddenly spending much more time at home, have shifted our coffee consumption patterns too. Trends show that during lockdown we have bought more coffee to drink at home, as well as coffee making equipment, including coffee grinders, espresso machines, coffee pod machines and filter equipment.

While we are now free to return to our places of work, restaurants and coffee shops, we are not doing so as frequently as before. This is unlikely to change while working from home remains prevalent and while the risk of COVID-19 remains present.

For many of the bigger coffee shop chains, there is the option to re-organise and restructure while uncertainties remain. But for the smaller independents these options are not necessarily available, so for coffee shops to remain a thriving part of where we live and work, they need a regular customer base, and thus we encourage you to support your local Famous Bean!