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Serious inside roll! More than ten thousand coffee shops are closed!

Published: 2026-08-25 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/08/25, ▲ click to follow | Daily boutique coffee culture magazine coffee workshop coffee industry in recent years, chain brands large-scale expansion of the number of stores, improve brand influence, boutique cafes are not to be outdone, store decoration, creative coffee and other weapons to join the coffee track. But the economic downturn has affected all

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In recent years, the coffee industry is hot, chain brands expand the number of stores on a large scale, improve brand influence, boutique cafes are not to be outdone, with store decoration, creative coffee and other weapons to join the coffee track. However, the economic downturn has affected the living environment of various industries, as does the coffee industry, which is popular with young people.

Yesterday, the number of coffee shops declared to be closed in South Korea reached more than 10, 000 last year, with an average of almost 1000 coffee shops closing every month, the highest number ever recorded, according to the World Finance and Economics report. Young people's demand for coffee continues to grow under the fast-paced life and intense work pressure in South Korea, with per capita coffee consumption reportedly reaching 405 cups last year, more than twice the global average.

The huge market demand makes businessmen see business opportunities, so many people choose coffee to start a business. The number of coffee shops in South Korea once soared, but the more coffee shops there are, the more serious the volume in the industry is. Under the impact of the economic downturn, most of the small-scale individual coffee shops are poor in business, and it is difficult to maintain in the fierce industry competition. They can only choose to close their shops and stop their losses in time.

Many Korean self-employed businessmen said that they thought it was relatively easy to start a coffee business, but in fact it was not as expected.

On the other hand, under the background of high prices and high interest rates in South Korea, the Korean coffee industry gradually tends to two levels of differentiation.

Low-cost coffee shop chains are popular with young people. According to statistics, four of South Korea's top five coffee brands are low-cost brands, expanding rapidly in recent years with a surge in packaging and takeout orders. In contrast to low-cost chain brands, there are high-end coffee shops that pay attention to decoration and provide comfortable space. The customers of this kind of coffee shop are mainly high-income people and occupy a position to be reckoned with in the Korean coffee market.

The two-tier differentiation in the industry is becoming more and more obvious, and the ordinary coffee shops located in the middle are becoming more and more difficult to gain a foothold in the industry due to lack of store characteristics or high costs. as a result, the number of coffee shops closing hastily is also increasing.

For Korean coffee shop operators, to make matters worse, the popularity of the Korean coffee industry has attracted the attention of boutique coffee giants in North America, and foreign brands that smell business opportunities have joined the Korean market, resulting in increasingly fierce competition in the industry. the competition pressure of local small-scale individual coffee shops is even greater.

Due to South Korea's current economic downturn, South Korean consumers will prefer to buy instant coffee and other products in the supermarket to brew their own, in order to reduce their own spending on coffee. As a result, freshly ground coffee with an average price of 20 to 30 yuan is less and less chosen by young people. South Korea's freshly ground coffee market begins to change from prosperity to decline, while the instant coffee and canned coffee market on the other side shows a growing trend.

As a result, some coffee shops in South Korea are scrambling to launch prepackaged coffee products such as capsule coffee in an attempt to diversify their sales.

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