With the U.S. food and beverage industry in general depressed, drive-through cafes are expanding their stores at a faster pace. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that drive-through chains with few seats and only 33.7 square meters of space are rocking the U.S. food and beverage industry by obsessing over fast service. Some of the major drive-through cafe chains include Dutch Bros., Seven Brew, Big B Coffee, Scooters Coffee, and Black Rock Coffee Bar.
The biggest advantage of a drive-through cafe is its fast service speed. Mark Davis, CEO of BlackRock Coffee Bar, said in an interview that the company aims to process drive-through orders within 90 seconds. “When you’re in the drive-through lane, a skilled barista called ‘line buster’ comes out and communicates directly with customers to help them complete orders within 90 seconds,” he said.
The concept of “drive-through” itself first appeared in the 1930s. However, drive-through cafes have gained popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s emphasis on social distancing, and the popularity has continued even after the end of the pandemic as consumers become accustomed to such service methods, the FT said.
A Scooters coffee franchisee said, “People don’t want to sit inside the store anymore.” “People don’t have to go to the store and talk to each other, but I think they can order coffee through a drive-through,” said Erin Kayler, president of Big B Coffee.
In fact, according to the latest survey by the National Coffee Association, 59 percent of consumers who bought coffee used drive-through cafes, the highest ever. This is a 5 percentage point increase in a year from 54 percent in the previous year.
Driven by its popularity, the number of stores is also growing rapidly. Scooters Coffee has seen its stores roughly triple over the past five years, and Dutch Bros., which now has more than 1,000 stores, is also opening three new stores every week as it expands from the west to the east. BlackRock Coffee aims to increase its number of stores by 20% annually by 2035.
The way drive-through chains operate is in contrast to Starbucks, the largest coffee chain in the U.S., which focuses on customer experience. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is investing heavily to make its stores an attractive space where people can “connect and gather.” Starbucks has 17,000 stores in the U.S., but less than half of them have drive-through windows.
The expansion of drive-through cafes with fast service and low investment costs is expected to continue for the time being. Based on floating population data in the second quarter, Scooters, Dutch Brothers, and 7-brew saw a 1.5 percentage point (P) increase year-on-year, while Starbucks saw only a 0.3 percentage point increase, according to Adban Research’s head of market analysis, Thomas Paulson. “Every other company has lost share,” said.
“Starbucks has dominated the coffee shop market for years, but now consumers are increasingly finding it attractive to choose a different chain,” said Kevin Schimp, senior director of industrial research at consulting firm Technomick.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
