The market research group MINTEL finds that the trend of rapid growth in US coffee shops will continue:

America's unquenchable thirst for premium coffee continues to drive US coffee shop sales, with the market showing no signs of cooling down. Latest research from MINTEL* finds coffee shops across the pond will have seen close to a five fold increase in sales between 2000 and 2010.

The market experienced 157% growth between 2000 ($3,258m) and 2005 to reach some $8,372m and despite being a maturing market coffee shops are set to continue full steam ahead. Over the next five years sales are expected to grow by a further 125% to reach an impressive $18,839m by 2010. This is phenomenal growth for such an established market and is well over twice the growth rate seen in the much younger British coffee shops market.

"Driven by the enormous appetite Americans have shown for more inventive, upmarket and premium-priced coffee, coffee shop chains have expanded at breakneck speed. The rise in popularity of this kind of coffee has been driven mainly by the expansion of coffee shops themselves. Every new opening increases demand by pulling in customers who pass by while going about their daily routines and this self feeding cycle of growth has shown no signs of slowing or market saturation," comments Billy Hulkower, Market Analyst at MINTEL.

The total number of coffee shops in the US increased by 70% between 2000 and 2005, bringing the total to a staggering 21, 400 or one coffee house for every 14,000 Americans. MINTEL believes that the number of shops could well continue to rise until there is a coffee shop for every 10,000 Americans.

[Via Bread Coffee Chocolate Yoga.]