01 Jul Japanese coffee consumption perks up, finland world’s top drinkers
Jun 10, 2015. The Wall Street Journal
A barista brews coffee at a Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Tokyo in April. Associated Press Starbucks expanded to all 47 prefectures in Japan this year and Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first store in the country in February. Their bets are looking smart.
According to survey results released by the All Japan Coffee Association this week, Japanese were consuming 11.13 cups of coffee per week in 2014, the largest amount since the organization started the study in 1983. An average of 10.73 cups was consumed in 2012 and 10.03 in 2002, according to the survey.
Japan, long a haven for tea drinkers, is still far below many European nations and the U.S. in coffee drinking. According to data from Euromonitor, which calculates consumption differently from the Japan coffee group, Japan’s consumption of coffee per capita was 207 cups in 2014, compared with 240 in South Korea, 369 in the U.S. and 1,252 for global champion Finland.
Still, Japan is moving up the ranks in part because of the rising popularity of brewed coffee that convenience store chains have introduced over the past few years, a spokesman at the industry organization said. Coffee drinkers also enjoying their cup at home more than ever, he said.
Asked where they drank their coffee, those polled said that approximately seven of the 11.13 cups on average were consumed at home, up from 6.85 in 2012. Approximately three cups were enjoyed at office or school, and only 0.2 cups at coffee shops and cafes.
Of the 11.13 cups, an average of 4.54 were instant coffee and 3.63 were brewed from ground beans. The rest were split between canned coffee (1.84) and ready-to-drink coffee sold in bottles (1.11).
The biannual survey was conducted in October with 3,318 people aged between 12 and 79 years old.
Middle-aged men were the heaviest coffee drinkers.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/06/10/coffee-consumption-hits-record-high-in-japan-survey/