The Market for Gourmet Coffee

The popularity of gourmet coffee has grown steadily over the past fifteen years. In fact, gourmet coffee market is now growing at about 15% annually and now accounts for over $1.5 billion dollars per year in sales.

The U.S. market is especially fond of coffee, with each citizen consuming more than 3 cups per day on average. Gourmet coffee is rapidly gaining market share, with 18.12% of the coffee drinkers in the United States indicating that they drink gourmet coffee beverages daily.

Long story short, as an entrepreneur, you can start a great business in the specialty and gourmet coffee market. Just make sure you think everything through and find a niche that works.

Don't Overlook the Competition

Prior to opening a gourmet coffee business in your area, it's a smart move to find out how strong the competition is. Try our link below to generate a list of competitors in your city. Complete the form by entering your city, state and zip code to get a list of gourmet coffee businesses that are close by.

• Find Local Gourmet Coffee Business Competitors

Gain a knowledge of how existing firms have positioned themselves in the marketplace, and then design your business in a way that sets you apart from the others.

Getting Advice from Experienced Entrepreneurs

If you are seriously contemplating launching a gourmet coffee business, it's essential that you learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. If you think your local competitors will give you advice, you're being overoptimistic. It'd be crazy for them to teach you the business.

On the other hand, an individual who has a gourmet coffee business outside of your community can be a great learning resource for you, provided that you won't be directly competing with them. Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs. In my experience, you may have to call ten business owners in order to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.

The key question new becomes: how to find a gourmet coffee business founder on the other side of the country to talk to?

Simply, try our helpful link below, type in a random city/state or zipcode, and start calling.

• Research Gourmet Coffee Business Owners In Other Cities

Explore Franchising Options

The chances of thriving in your new business immediately improve when you opt to franchise and benefit from the prior work of others and their lessons learned.

As part of your process in starting a gourmet coffee business, you may want to assess whether there are good franchise opportunities available that might be the right move for you.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.

• What's the Best Coffee Franchise for You?

Industry Associations

If you are interested in starting a gourmet coffee company, make sure to check out the resources from industry trade associations.

We recommend:

• National Coffee Association (NCA) - The National Coffee Association of USA was founded in 1911, one of the earliest trade associations formed in the United States and the first trade association for the U.S. coffee industry.
• Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) - The SCAA is the trade association for the specialty coffee industry. Members include coffee retailers, roasters, producers, exporters and importers, as well as manufacturers of coffee equipment and related products.