TOKYO – Japanese coffee drinkers are flocking to convenience stores to get that caffeine fix cheap and fast. Total fresh-coffee sales at Seven-Eleven Japan, Circle K Sunkus, Lawson, FamilyMart and Ministop stores will likely break the 700 million cup mark in fiscal 2013.
The five major chains plan to expand the number of locations offering the drinks to a total of 43,000 by February, triple that of a year before.
In May, Seven-Eleven raised its annual sales target 36% to 450 million cups, putting it on track to overtake McDonald’s Japan, the chain that sells the most fresh coffee at 300 million cups per year.
Seven-Eleven’s 100 yen ($0.98) coffee offerings, which it has pushed since January, have proved popular among women and the elderly, in addition to men, who make up a large portion of convenience store customers. Circle K Sunkus had put coffee machines in all 6,300 of its locations as of August 2012.
Traditional purveyors of coffee are not feeling the jolt. The number of cafes in Japan has halved since the 1981 peak of about 150,000.
“In a neighborhood with no cafe, people use a convenience store instead,” explained Lawson Chief Operating Officer Genichi Tamatsuka.
Lawson plans to increase the number of stores with “street corner kitchens,” which prepare sandwiches and other foods on the spot, to 5,000 by spring 2015. FamilyMart and others are adding seating areas to more stores.
Japanese coffee consumption climbed 4% on the year to 334,500 tons in the first nine months of 2013, according to the All Japan Coffee Association. If the trend continues, this year could set a new record, besting 2007’s 438,300 tons.
“Convenience stores are making a big contribution to this,” said a senior association official.
Meanwhile, beverage companies and cafe operators are looking for pick-me-ups of their own. Coca-Cola is marketing a line of smaller, 280ml bottled coffee drinks targeted at young women. Seeing hurried coffee-seeking commuters head to convenience stores, the cafe chain Pronto began to offer products such as a slightly larger latte priced around 300 yen in October.
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