The Ho.Re.Ca coffee market in the CEE countries—including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia—has shown significant recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a sharp decline of 34.3% in 2020, falling to 20,142 tons, the market is now on a recovery path. In 2024, the CEE Ho.Re.Ca coffee market grew by another 2.8% to 28,683 tons, approaching the pre-crisis level of 2019 (30,661 tons). Manufacturer revenues, however, rose by 8.3% in 2024 to €504.7 million, significantly surpassing the pre-crisis level of 2019 (€426.6 million), according to a recent study by Interconnection Consulting.

Resilience Despite Price Pressure

Despite facing strong price pressures over the past three years, the Ho.Re.Ca coffee market in CEE countries continues to demonstrate resilience and growth. Particularly impressive is the performance of Romania’s market, where manufacturer revenues grew from €45.5 million in 2019 to €62.6 million in 2024. Similarly, the Croatian market expanded from €48.6 million to €60.6 million in the same period. Croatia is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU, with rising real wages and private consumption driving demand in the hospitality sector. In Romania, out-of-home consumption is supported by increasing private consumption, a robust labour market, and rising wages and pensions. In Poland, the Ho.Re.Ca coffee market grew by over 12% in 2024 to €186.2 million, fuelled by continued price increases of over 8% during the year.

Coffee Pods & Capsules as a Niche Product in the Hospitality Sector

Coffee pods and capsules (single servings) play a minor role in the overall CEE market, accounting for just 1.9% of the market by volume. However, due to their significantly higher average prices compared to ground coffee and whole beans, they represent 5.0% of the Ho.Re.Ca coffee market in value. Whole beans remain the dominant product, holding a 93.9% market share by volume. Pods and capsules are particularly popular in the hotel sector, especially for in-room amenities and breakfast areas. The hotel segment has seen a marked recovery in recent years and held a 20.8% market share by volume in 2024. This makes it only slightly smaller than the restaurant and catering segment, which holds a 22.9% share. The largest customer segment remains coffeehouses, with a 49.9% share. Bakeries and pastry shops play a minor role, accounting for 6.4% of the market, according to market analyst Laszlo Barla.

Strong Players and Growing Competition from Small Providers

Julius Meinl maintains a strong presence across all nine countries, while Atlantic Grupa and Franck are particularly successful in Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia. The Strauss Group from Israel has a strong presence in Poland and Romania. Alongside these dominant market players, the competitive analysis also reveals a significant market share for smaller providers, indicating lower barriers to entry in the Ho.Re.Ca segment compared to the retail sector.

After a COVID-related slump of nearly 36% in 2020, dropping to 68,034 tons, the market for coffee in the Ho.Re.Ca business in Italy, Germany, and Austria has significantly recovered in recent years. Following an especially strong year in 2022, however, the market has gradually lost momentum since 2023. For 2024, the combined market of Italy, Germany, and Austria recorded only a modest volume growth of 1.0% to 93,198 tons. Nevertheless, manufacturer revenues increased by 4.8% to €1.6 billion due to continuing price hikes, according to a recent study by Interconnection.

Strongest Price Increase in Austria

Austria experienced the sharpest price increase among the three countries, with the price for whole beans (average price in 2024: €17.9 per kilogram) rising by 23.2% between 2021 and 2024. In Germany, the price increase for whole beans (average price in 2024: €17.5 per kilogram) was slightly lower at 21.2% over the same period. Prices in Italy saw a comparatively moderate increase of 17.0%. Market analyst Laszlo Barla from Interconnection Consulting expects further price increases in 2025 due to rising raw coffee prices and logistics costs.

Country-Specific Differences in Consumption Behavior

Noteworthy are the country-specific differences, such as the higher market share of ground coffee in Germany (2024: 16.1%) and Austria (2024: 14.2%) compared to Italy (2024: 5.4%). The importance of the bakery and pastry shop segment also varies significantly: In Germany, this segment accounts for 14.9% of the Ho.Re.Ca market, while in Italy it only reaches 5.3%.

Moderate Growth Expected Through 2028

In the medium term, Interconnection Consulting expects that the delayed rise in real incomes will boost purchasing power, providing growth momentum for the Ho.Re.Ca coffee market. Although above-average growth is not forecasted in the medium term, Interconnection anticipates an annual growth rate of +1.8% by volume from 2024 to 2028.

Market Players Dominate by Country

The Italian coffee market is dominated by major domestic brands such as illycaffè, Lavazza, and Segafredo Zanetti, which also have a significant presence in Austria and Germany. In contrast, brands like Dallmayr, Darboven (represented in Austria by its subsidiary J. Hornig), and Tchibo are particularly strong in Germany and Austria, while playing a minimal role in Italy. Julius Meinl is the market leader in Austria and South Tyrol.

Only a prolonged pandemic could have weakened demand for professional coffee machines, as worldwide out-of-home consumption of coffee had been on steady growth trend for the last 10 years in almost all the 16 regions covered by this global report. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions have severely impacted all customer segments, in particular hotels and restaurants, and the worldwide market declined in 2020 by ca. 20% in terms of new machines sold. Interconnection predicts that demand will resume soon and in the next 3 years the global market will grow by a yearly average of 5,6%.

Europe severely hit, but downfall experienced in all regions

In Europe all major markets (Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Nordics, Spain, and UK) lost combined 23,0% in quantity. Interconnection detected a slightly better performance in Germany and Nordics, while, at the same time, countries like Italy, Spain, and France suffered the most.

Outside Europe demand fell less on average, around 14%, but still high if compared with their performance of the last 5 years. For example, the Chinese market, which had been growing on an average around 30% in the last 3 years declined due to the COVID crisis, despite overperfoming with a fall of -3,3% in quantity. Other best performers have been East and South-East Asia, where coffee consumption is becoming more popular especially among younger generation.

Higher growth for collective/ event catering expected after the crisis

Rapid expansion of coffee houses has been observed especially in less mature markets where coffee consumption is clearly associated with a less traditional, more cosmopolitan lifestyle. A growing segment until the pandemic, collective and event catering lost more than 30% in 2020 because of home office and cancellation of indoor events. However, this segment will start regain market shares in the next 3 years.

Strong demand for touchless solutions and cloud computing

All product types have been negatively affected by the crisis, but fully automatic performed better than  semiautomatic and reached 49,8% quantity shares in 2020. Interconnection predicts that both groups will start to recover in the next 3 years and regain the lost ground with an average growth of 6,0% and 5,2% respectively. Average prices are on the rise and are expected to grow further mainly because of technological innovation, in particular, cloud computing, remote control and touchless solutions. Among the major global players, there are Cimbali, Evoca Group, Franke and WMF.