Why is Melbourne a Coffee Hub?

Abstract
Research was conducted sourcing evidence from journal articles, opinion pieces and e-
commerce sites. As Melbourne is such a highly populated city with coffee stores on every
corner, it is vital to the report that it is understand why Melbourne is a coffee hub in
comparison to other cities around Australia as well as discovering what drives Melbourne as
a leader of coffee experiences. The following research aims to provide insight to what
Melbourne consumers think, feel and act when it comes to coffee consumption. As well as
why Melbourne has been self-appointed the coffee hub of Australia. This research report will
provide in depth analysis of Melbourne migration, the city life and the experiences that come
with coffee consumption. On completion of the final report readers will have consolidated
understanding of the purchase.
 
 Introduction
Melbourne’s love affair with coffee has given rise to an $8 billion industry (Australia 2019).
As Melbourne’s population has grown over the years so has its consumption of coffee.
Consumption is the interaction of cognition, behaviour and environmental events which
persuade human beings to exchange goods and services in return for monetary units. The
introduction of coffee can be traced back to 1880, when the government coined “The
Temperance Movement”, a social movement against alcohol consumption, in response to
drunkenness, debauchery and antisocial behaviour (coffex 2018). According to TripAdvisor
there are 797 coffee shops with ratings inside the Melbourne CBD (TripAdvisor), which
shows a growth of nearly 80% in coffee shops from when the first cafe opened in 1888.
Coffees are an ever-growing experiment and new coffees are made on a regular basis (Media
Hub). Melbourne in 2017 averaged a consumption of 3.91 cups of coffee a week (Sydney
Morning Herald).

 Body 
Migration (cultural)
Melbourne is seen as a coffee hub; it highlights coffees abroad. Australia is a multicultural
country meaning all walks of life are living together. After world war 2, countries with a
fundamental coffee background such as Italy, Greece as well as countries from Southern
America and Asia all migrated to Melbourne, creating a variety of coffee to choose from.
Post-World War 2 there was an influx of migration which saw Australia gain upwards of two
million people from 1945 -1965 (Migration Heritage). Their favourable authentic coffee lead
to a vast number of entrepreneurs, setting up cafes all over Melbourne. As there are more
styles of coffees to choose from now a day as well as the convenience of a coffee shop on
every corner of the CBD the availability of choice has grown extremely. 75% of Australians
intake at least one coffee a day, and with a population of around 4.9 million people in
Melbourne, on average 3.6 million people consume coffee alone (McCrindle). As imported
coffee is frequently sold in Melbourne it may give consumers a sense of home feeling from
the original places they migrated from.
 
 
City Life 
Coffee is a walking tool to majority working Melburnians and university students. According
to statistics, coffee consumption is at its peak at 8.30 in the morning (Redbook 2015).Coffee
contains caffeine which hits you with a boost of energy. Suzy Frish states that coffee gets the
creative juices flowing and helps to grasp in knowledge. Hence universities house ample of
coffee shops. Students in Melbourne are either working full time or part time and have long
days, hence a strong cup of freshly brewed coffee is a necessity to majority university
students. Melbourne in 2017 consumed an average of 3.91 cups of coffee a week, which
although is quite a significant amount it is still short of Sydney's of 4.41(Sydney Morning
Herald). To cater for the hustle and bustle of city life many original non-coffee shops have
dedicated time in recent years to expand. 7Elven now sell coffees with the input of self-serve
coffee machine (7Eleven) 

Exceptional Experience 
Whether you're a tourist or a local. Every individual highly depends on their 5 senses to make
any kind of purchase. Sense is a psychological capacity of humans that lead to perception and
contributes to consumer buy-ology, perceptions are made from what we smell, taste, hear, see
and feel. Cafes in Melbourne attempt to tackle all these 5 senses by offering freshly brewed
coffees to capture their customers sense of smell (Future 2014). Furthermore, by hiring
professional barista, cafes give an opportunity to their guest to experience the authentic way
of brewing coffee while customising the coffee to their customers satisfaction thereby
encapsulating other senses like sight and perception of the cafe. The experience each
customer has will either make or break a cafe. With such a high density of coffee shops in
such a small surface area competition to promote and execute the best customer experiences
is a driving force is delivering exceptional services.
 
Situational Influence 
Situation influences are temporary states that affect buyer’s behaviour (Lardbucket 2012).
Studies show that consumers purchase, greatly depend situational influence that is either self-
imposed or imposed by society or their surroundings.it includes all the factors from a time
and place that do not follow from a stable attribute (Lardbucket 2012).  Physical surroundings
like ambience and accessibility of a cafe plays a key role in the choices made by a consumer.
Social surroundings such as a business environment stimulates a need for consumption of
coffee with colleagues and peers. Another aspect of situational influences is Temporal
Perspective that deals with the effect of time on a consumer, such as a cold rainy day in
Melbourne, leads to higher intake of warm coffee (Lardbucket 2012).
 
Social Influence
 Cafes and bars are important social places for people, but the difference is that coffee is
considered a healthier drink than alcohol, due to the Temperance Movement in Melbourne
government encourages consumption of coffee over alcohol (Paul 2014). coffee has become a
very acceptable social drink. Cafes are quiet, clean and an ideal spot to meet up with friends
or business partners. Moreover, where to buy coffee, what kind of coffee to drink, has long
exceeded the scope of personal preference, and directly linked to the way of people’s life
attitude. Some people only drink organic coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or imported coffee.
They are not willing to go to large chain cafes like Starbucks, on the contrary they choose
privately-owned coffee houses. People will roughly evaluate a person’s life taste through the
first meeting cafe. And this is coffee social.

Price
A cup of warm coffee in the morning is a reward for starting a day of work and this reward is
not that expensive. Coffee is considered a habitual purchase as it has low purchase
involvement. Coffee prices range between $3.87 for a Long Black and $4.51 for a Latte in
Melbourne (Square 2018). Even though the price of coffee is affordable, Cafes make a good
profit because of the continuous and repetitive purchase from their loyal customers.
Therefore, the coffee market has continued to grow in Melbourne, and has a high saturated
with one of the highest contributors. 
 
Conclusion 
Through this research report, it has been established that are ample reasons that influence
Melburnians to purchase coffee daily. These can be internal or external environment such as
the emergence of different cultures in the city, busy lifestyles lived by individuals, situational
influences such as, social influences and price. Overall Melbourne is an ever growing and
expanding city which caters for all walks of life. As there are all walks of life that interact
with each other on a daily basis, a coffee may be the best way for someone to connect with
somebody else of a differing culture or differing interests than your own. Coffee is a social
drink and helps shape Melbourne and Australia into being one of the greatest and largest
multinational countries in the world.
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