Eastern Europe consists of at least 13 countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Belarus and Ukraine. Some sources also include Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, partly Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and even Finland in the list. In general, there is no clear consensus in the world on what to consider "Eastern Europe", since views differ not only in geography, but also in linguistic, political, cultural, social and historical principles.
In this article, we will try to take a broad look at the coffee specialty culture and development in this region. For reference — these countries collectively make an economic contribution of approximately 2.7% to global global GDP. Coffee consumption in Eastern Europe is growing at about 6% per year (between 2020 and 2024), and coffee consumption is projected to grow by 70% by the end of 2029 compared to 2020 volumes. The growing interest in coffee in general and in high-quality coffee in particular increases the number of roasters that focus on all market segments, from the lower mass market to the premium one, which also includes specialty.
With the simultaneous rise of roasters, the number of non-chain coffee shops is also increasing, which in a number of countries traditionally crowd international corporations and chain establishments, and somewhere on the contrary, lose out to the pressure of international conglomerates. In Eastern Europe, Poland has long been the largest importer of green coffee, purchasing about 130 thousand tons per year. The largest suppliers to Poland are Uganda, Brazil and Vietnam (among direct suppliers), among re-exporters –Germany. Poland is followed by Bulgaria, which imports significantly less — 30 thousand tons per year. The main suppliers to Bulgaria are Brazil and Vietnam. The Czech Republic imports 21 thousand tons a year, most often from Germany as a re-exporter. Germany is basically the main secondary exporter of green coffee in Europe (followed by Italy). Coffee processed in Germany can often be seen on the shelves of stores in Ukraine. Among the Eastern European countries that cooperate least with re-exporters, Slovenia can be noted, which organized 96% of all its green coffee imports directly, buying the most from Brazil, India and Colombia. In general, Eastern Europe consumes 19% of the coffee of the entire EU, approximately 300 thousand tons per year.
The fastest growing individual markets in Eastern Europe are the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovenia, which increase annual consumption by 15 to 18 percent in the best years. However, these markets are quite small in absolute terms. And the largest Polish market is growing slowly, about 1-2% per year. In terms of consumption per capita, individual countries in this region still have a lot to grow.
In general, the EU consumes 5.2 kg of coffee per capita per year. In Slovenia — more than 6.1. In Serbia — 5.4, in Croatia — 4.5, in Bosnia and Herzegovina - 4.3, in Lithuania - 3.3, in Poland - 3.0, in Slovakia - 2.5, in Bulgaria - 2.3, in the Czech Republic - 2.0.
For comparison:
• Finland consumes 9.6 kg / year
• In Norway: 7.2
• In The Netherlands: 6.7.
At the same time, the world is full of countries with significantly lower consumption. So, in the Philippines, only 1.2 kg of coffee is consumed per year, in Georgia — 1.3 kg, in New Zealand — 1.3, in Thailand — 1.6, in Israel — 1.8. It is noteworthy that in countries with a low level of coffee consumption (this applies not only to Eastern Europe), the population reacts more strongly to changes in coffee prices than in countries with a high level of coffee consumption. This generally correlates with GDP per capita. In other words, in poor and developing countries, people reduce their coffee consumption if its prices rise (or switch to cheaper analogues).
Read more in the second part of this article.
in Про нас