It seems that South African consumers cut down on some essentials to afford their morning cuppa as it has become so expensive.
Despite inflationary pressure over the past year, half of all South Africans still start their day with coffee and they will tell you how they like their coffee and exactly how to make it. Local coffee drinkers are not even close to giving up their morning fix.
Eighty20, a consumer strategy, research and analytics company, gathered valuable insights into coffee preferences across various South African demographics for the second time now after examining the state of coffee in South Africa for the first time last year.
Eighty20 checked back to see whether conditions have improved or deteriorated for the country’s coffee drinkers. The previous analysis revealed concerning trends: coffee prices increased beyond any other food or beverage category.
In the second half of 2024, while national inflation remained below 4.5%, coffee prices surged, with instant coffee experiencing the steepest year-on-year consumer price increase of any food or beverage item in August 2024, jumping by 22.3%, joining eggs as the only other category exceeding 20% inflation.
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Comparing coffee prices
Frustratingly for this year’s analysis, Statistics SA replaced ground coffee and coffee beans with rosé wine and snuff in its inflation basket to better reflect the nation’s evolving shopping habits.
Therefore, while Eighty20 can no longer track year-on-year inflation for ground beans, it can still do it for instant coffee (just under 10%) and cappuccino sachets (below inflation), which are both a significant moderation from last year.
Andrew Fulton, director at Eighty20, pointed out that while inflation decreases, prices still increase. The average price for 250 grams of Instant coffee over the past three years has shown a compound annual growth rate of 12.65%.
The average price of 250 grams of Instant coffee was R52.70 in August 2023, R67.37 in August 2024 and R75.34 in August 2025.
However, Fulton said, despite sustained inflationary pressure, coffee sales show no signs of slowing. According to MAPS data, a new consumer insights dataset, a quarterly survey of over 20 000 people released by the Marketing Research Foundation, 22.7 million South Africans (nearly half the adult population) drink some form of coffee daily. After adjusting for the survey’s reweighting, comparable consumption growth year-on-year reached nearly 8%.
He said this trend also aligns with global patterns. Worldwide coffee consumption is projected to reach a record 10.16 million tons in 2025-2026, up from 9.99 million tons in 2024-2025. China’s emergence as the world’s sixth-largest consumer is a key driver, with demand more than doubling over the past decade.
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21.8 million South Africans drink instant coffee or cappuccino daily
The MAPS survey segments consumption into several caffeinated categories, with instant coffee and cappuccino dominating: 21.8 million South Africans drink these daily.
“In the instant coffee category, a clear local favourite is Ricoffy. More people drink Ricoffy than the next five leading brands (Frisco, Jacobs Krönung, Nescafé, Douwe Egberts and Koffiehuis) combined,” Fulton said.
Sources suggest coffee accounts for just under 1% of average annual household spending in the EU as well as the US. In South Africa, consumption patterns vary by coffee type: instant coffee drinkers consume an average of 1.7 cups per day, while ground coffee drinkers average just over 1.8 cups. This rises to more than two cups daily among SEM 10 and LSM 10 consumers.
Among the three main coffee formats measured in the MAPS data, instant, ground beans and pods, coffee pods show how technology and innovation are reshaping consumption. The proliferation of affordable espresso machines has fuelled growth in the premium coffee segment, with pods appealing to two highly coveted demographics: wealthy and younger consumers.
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Coffee pods for youngest coffee drinkers earning 50% more than instant coffee drinkers
Fulton said coffee pod drinkers represent a particularly niched segment. They are the youngest among coffee drinkers and earn approximately 50% more than instant coffee consumers. In addition, higher-income pod drinkers consume nearly three pods daily although MAPS data shows overall consumer numbers plateaued in recent years, holding steady at roughly half the ground bean consumer base.
“Pods, as you would expect, did not capture instant coffee drinkers but made significant inroads with ground coffee enthusiasts, with 30% of ground bean consumers also using coffee pods, suggesting pods complement rather than replace traditional premium coffee habits,” Fulton said.
Leigh Wentzel, co-founder of Cedar Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee company based in Cape Town, said two interesting innovations in the market are coffee in a can and coffee sachets, particularly for campers and hikers.
Bootlegger, South Africa’s ubiquitous coffee shop, released cold brew in a can to meet evolving consumer preferences and on-the-go consumption preferred by the younger generation. Cold Brewed Coffee is a method of making coffee where ground beans are steeped in cold or room-temperature water and the flavour is extracted through time rather than heat.
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Wealthier households drink the most ground coffee
Despite the proliferation of coffee shops in major South African metros, ground coffee consumption remains concentrated among wealthier households. MAPS data reveals that nearly a quarter of all ground coffee consumption comes from the approximately 700 000 coffee drinkers earning more than R10 000 per month (a demographic representing just 15% of the population), underscoring the premium positioning of this category.
Eighty20’s national segmentation divides South Africa’s adult population into eight segments and 46 sub-segments. Two segments, the middle class and the affluent heavy hitters, represent just 15% of adults but account for 21% of the approximately 2.8 million ground coffee drinkers nationwide, Fulton said.
“Coffee is a global commodity, with over 10 million tons produced each year and people drink an astonishing 2.25 billion cups daily. Surprisingly, high inflation did not slow coffee consumption growth. We will, in fact, reach the highest annual consumption ever recorded this year.”
