Despite the slump in the dining and franchising industries, coffee shops continue to grow. Sales at major coffee shops such as Starbucks, Twosome Place and EDIYA increased last year despite concerns that the coffee market was saturated.
As overall coffee consumption increases, factors such as higher coffee prices and higher minimum wage have not affected much, according to analysts.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on April 18, Starbucks Korea's sales increased by 20.5 percent to 1.52 trillion won last year. Operating profit rose by 24.9 percent to 142.9 billion won. It is the biggest performance since its debut in Korea in 1997. The number of stores stood at 1,280 as of the end of March.
Twosome Place, split from CJ Foodville, also unveiled its first-ever better-than-expected report card of 274.3 billion won in sales and 29.2 billion won in operating profit last year. Its operating profit ratio reached 10.6% and its net profit also came to 20.5 billion won. The performance was based on the February-December last year after being separated from CJ Foodville.
EDIYA Coffee, which has some 2,500 franchises nationwide, also posted sales of 200.5 billion won last year. It increased 8.9 percent on-year. Operating profit declined 12.4 percent, but the company explained that the cost was increased due to supports for franchises and new coffee plants.
Coffee Bean and Hollys also saw their sales rise 5.6 percent and 9.9 percent to 166.6 billion won and 154.9 billion won, respectively. Paul Bassett, run by Maeil Dairy, saw its sales grow 9.5 percent to 82.8 billion won.
