Local and foreign companies share a growing market, driven by greater consumer sophistication, where quality coffee is demanded, and by the trends imposed by international brands.
The presence of coffee shops has been growing in the country, especially in the capital and in urban areas.International brands such as Starbucks and Juan Valdez compete with Salvadoran brands such as Coffee Cup.
The Colombian coffee shop chain announced stores in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Elfinancierocr.com reports: "In Costa Rica, Juan Valdez will find a competitive market full of national and international brands such as Starbucks, Illy Gourmet, Saboreatéycafé and KafeHaus, among others."
"Juan Valdez is the only coffee chain in the world whose shareholders are the producers."
To enhance market access domestic coffee making machine manufacturers are associating themselves with single-dose infusions.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The business of coffee capsules has shown continuous growth and leading brands have closed partnerships deals with manufacturers of coffee making machines in order to push for a larger share of the market.
Consumers in China are choosing international brands, in 2012 the consumption of coffee surpassed 70 thousand tons and in 2013 it is expected to reach more than 95 thousand tons.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The growing demand for coffee in the Chinese market, which traditionally used to be focused on tea consumption, presents a great opportunity for exporters of this product.
"For every cup of coffee sold at $3 in U.S. stores, just $0.03 goes to producers in Latin America" (Cuentos Chinos, Andres Oppenheimer).
An article by Daniel Calvo in Elfinancierocr.com reports on how the opening of the first Starbucks in Costa Rica has restated an old theme: "Should we be satisfied with being only grain suppliers?"
Calvo says "In the era of a knowledge economy, value-added products are worth much more than raw materials, so we must shape our exports according to this method."
The chain has announced the opening of its fourth store in the Salvadoran capital, in the Multiplaza Mall.
With a total of 192 square meters, the new facility will have capacity to serve more than one hundred people.
Today Starbucks Coffee has opened six stores in Central America, in El Salvador it has three stores located in Plaza Santa Elena, Gran Via Mall and Galleries Mall, Guatemala has two stores in Condado Concepción and Oakland County Mal", reports Ruiz Maynor for Elsalvador.com
Located in Lifestyle Center La Gran Via, it’s the second chain store opening in less than a month.
The first store, which marked the company's start of operations in Central America, is located in Santa Elena, Antiguo Cuscatlan.
"With the opening of this second store in the region we are confirming our commitment to expand our role in the inheritance of the coffee culture that is so present here, give consumers the chance to experience Starbucks," told Laprensagrafica.com Mauricio Granada, general manager of the Pan American Coffee Corporation.
The U.S. coffee chain launched a campaign to for its new stores in Central America.
On November 4th, a press conference is scheduled in which they will announce their new openings.
Prensa Libre published on its website, "On the 16th of August, the chain announced in San Salvador that its first coffee shop will open in late 2010, with the help of Corporación de Franquicias Americanas.”
The chain's first coffee shop will open toward the end of next year in the Salvadoran capital.
Starbucks Coffee Company and Corporación de Franquicias Americanas (CFA), one of Central America's largest franchise operators, have entered into a 'a strategic area development agreement' to open licensed Starbucks stores across the region.
“We are proud to introduce Starbucks Coffee and the unique Starbucks Experience to customers in Central America,” said Pablo Arizmendi-Kalb, vice president and general manager, Starbucks Latin America.
Current low prices plus an increase in world demand will push the New York price of Arabica Coffee to $1.55 per pound.
"Arabica Coffee futures in New York could rise 24% by the end of the year, because coffee mixers will demand more of the variety to compensate the alternative supply of Robusta grains, said Mark Hensen, director of CPM Group", as noted by ElNuevoHerald.com.
After a difficult year of sales, Starbucks is looking to widen its sphere of coffee associates within Central and South America.
Coffee producers in both Costa Rica and Brazil were the first to show interest in joining the Starbucks coffee chain, as well as several companies in Colombia. The idea would be to sell shares of the company to the local growers, so that they can have a share in the final profits produced by their own product.
Colombian coffee producers are considering if the moment has come to join forces with other countries to buy the Starbucks chain, in order to have their own distribution channel.
The idea was presented by the manager of the Nation Coffee Growers Federation of Colombia (Fedecafe), Gabriel Silva, who in an interview published today in the "El Tiempo" daily in Bogota, said that coffee producing countries should provide money to make an offer.