France: Territoriality and Ho.Re.Ca. Channels in the Coffee Machines Distribution Strategy

The hospitality industry in France is one of the most prosperous in Europe with its 240,000 enterprises, a rich environment of bars and restaurants, not only in its capital Paris. But which is the Ho.Re.Ca. channel with the best potentiality for kind of coffee machine?

Cafés have always been strong elements in the culture, history and iconography of French people who have considered coffee as part of their lifestyle.

The café allongé (or American coffee, Americain) is one of the most popular coffee drink in France and it is what people usually call “coffee”, especially in the north of the country.

The coffee espresso, the highly concentrated coffee served in a tiny cup, is simply called espresso (un petit café, un café simple, un café noir, un petit noir, un café express, or un express) and most popular in the south, especially in the region close to the Italian border.

Coffee in French is a meeting and get-together moment, and generally people prefer to consume it neither consumed on the street (take-away) like in Anglo-saxon cultures nor standing up at the bar like in the Italian culture.

For coffee machines manufactures it means a different approach in their distribution with different strategy according to the regions and channels.

With 148,800 restaurants and 48,000 bars, 72% of the total hospitality industry in French represents a battlefield for the coffee machine manufactures, but hotels (24,000 enterprises), camping sites/short stays (12,000), and canteens have been targeting from machines manufacturers.

Not only a geographical factor, but channels and distribution will play more and more a key factor of success for coffee machines brands.