The cafés market in Greece experienced a significant value decline in 2012, whilst transactions also dropped considerably through the year, albeit at a slower rate than overall sales given that consumers also reduced their spending per transaction.
Cocooning, primarily for financial but also for psychological reasons, became an increasingly attractive option for many consumers, thus contributing to the decline of visits.
According to the Cafés/Bars in Greece report from Euromonitor, the recession has had a massive impact on the performance of the Greek cafés market.
Consumers were forced to make cutbacks in most areas of their lives, including entertainment and foodservices of every kind.
It has been made quite apparent that many consumers turned to cheaper options to get their coffees and refreshments, including buying it from retailing operations like bakeries, or making their own coffees at home or at work.
In addition, the need to cut down on total expenditure drove many consumers away from their older socialising locations that might have been too expensive or too far from home, to around-the-corner locations which have lower rents and thus better prices on their menus.
Goody’s SA, formed from the separation of the consumer foodservice operations of Vivartia SA in 2010, maintained the leading value share in the Greek chained cafés market in 2012 at 27% with its Flocafé brand.
The Flocafé chain was the first in Greece to develop specialist coffee shops while managing to keep the losses of footfall at relatively confined rates by making offers on its coffee prices.
Smoking is tolerated in most Flocafé outlets and this is a significant factor against multinationals such as Starbucks for instance that follow a strict no-smoking policy.
Economic conditions in Greece will be the main factor impacting sales of cafés/bars over the forecast period, with the category predicted to record a constant value CAGR of -8%. Economic experts predict that Greece will continue to see a decline in the consumer spending power and rising job losses in 2013.
They also predict that Greece will struggle with the recession throughout the largest part of the forecast period ending in 2017.
The continuous shattering of consumer confidence combined with ongoing reduced wages and rising financial insecurity will continue to drive Greeks towards staying at home.
These factors will impact heavily on cafés/bars, pushing both transactions and sales during the forecast period.
